Mary-Sue-Gi-Oh!
by Sass-Bot
Summary: After tripping over her shoelaces and falling to her doom, Lorna finds herself in Domino City. However, when a mysterious voice tells her she has to befriend Yugi Muto and save the world, she knows something fishy is going on -that, and the world is totally screwed. (OC story) (Warnings: Swear words, gore, & tomfoolery)
1. Prologue

For once in my life, I think it would be splendid if my motherfucking web browser would open in less than the time it takes to say "I hate you" one hundred times. I mean, it's Google -motherfucking- Chrome; it needs to stop acting like Internet Explorer. Alas, here I was, waiting for it to load. This is precisely why I never shut down my laptop for updates; so shit like this doesn't happen.

I sighed and ran my hands through my unruly dark hair and rubbed my face. I was so tired. It was five in the morning and I was sitting in front of my laptop all alone because my phone thought it was a good idea to wake me up at four AM. And I would have smashed my shiny new S3 if my alarm tune hadn't been an Ed Sheeran song. It took me long enough to get myself out of bed, eat, and get in my school uniform, and now I had two hours to kill before I had to catch the bus.

Eventually, the browser decided to open and I opened up my blog and wrote a post complaining about the little bitch that was Google Chrome. Needless to say, not one of my four hundred followers gave a shit. I decided to pass the rest of the time reblogging funny text posts and crying but not actually crying about my favorite TV shows.

I groaned when I realized that it was seven AM. Groggily, I tried smoothing down my hair and putting on my sneakers at the same time. I jogged out of my room, slurring a couple of "Good mornings" to my family members who were finally awake.

"Take care, sweetie!" my mom yelled as I shut the apartment door on my way out.

I rubbed my eyes, which stung either because I was drowsy, or because I kept rubbing them. O_ne, two. One, two. _I chanted as I made myself go down the stairs as quickly as I could.

A headache began to form between my temples and I brought my hand that wasn't rubbing my eyes to massage my head. I guess I should have used the time I spent blogging to get some rest. I just felt like utter crap.

My backpack strap was slipping off my shoulder now. I shrugged, trying to put it back up, but to no avail. Deciding to give my eye-rubbing hand a break, I adjusted the strap.

I don't know when exactly during all this that I missed a step on the staircase, but it must have been near the end and most likely before I tripped on my untied shoe laces. The funny thing is that I didn't really realize I was falling until the very last moment. The whole time, all I could think about was how bad the pain in my head was and how uncomfortable my bag strap felt in the nook of my elbow. It never even crossed my mind that something terrible was happening to me.

* * *

**_Yes, it is an OC story. No, I don't have any originality._**


	2. What's Domino?

**_I was a bit hesitant to post this since I don't usually care much for OC's and I wrote it on a whim really, but my friend (Ebru Raveniz Gunduz Lestrange) insisted that I post it, and after 2 weeks of being really lazy and reluctant, I decided not to give a fuck and post it. The title is meant to be ironic, so I trust you'll tell me if it ever becomes true._**

**_I'm posting the prologue and chapter 1 at the same time since the prologue is really short._**

* * *

"Hey, are you alright?"

I brought my hand to my eye and began to rub it slowly. _Who was trying to interrupt my beauty sleep? Did I need to bitch slap anyone?_

Slowly, I grew conscious of two things: one, I was sleeping in my school uniform and the pants were uncomfortable as fuck; two, my uniform was getting more messed up the longer I slept and I didn't want to have to change so it was best if I woke up now.

I brought my hands to my sides to clutch at the comforter for support as I sat up in bed; however, my nails only scratched at something hard and dirty.

_What the fuck?_

I pushed myself up into a sitting position anxiously. The sudden brightness irritated my eyes and it dawned on me that it wasn't the sort of _waking up in your room_ brightness, but rather the _staring up at the sun with your naked eye_ brightness, a brightness one could only experience outside, possibly laying down on the pavement in an unfamiliar place with concerned strangers looking down at you.

Upon seeing me awake, one of the strangers knelt down beside me to give me support. "Are you okay?" she asked. "My boyfriend just called the ambulance and they're coming to in a few minutes. Just don't stress yourself, got it?"

I nodded and looked away from the girl to identify my surroundings. It was a useless feat really. I was shit with directions and this place didn't seem remotely familiar to me. Before I realized my lips were moving, I asked the girl, "Where are we?"

In the few seconds it took for her to respond, a million possibilities and scenarios ran through my mind. Did I sleepwalk all the way here? Had I been kidnapped? Who would go to the trouble of kidnapping me anyway? My family wasn't really rich so it was useless to ask for a ransom. I was also a cheesecake away from crossing the borderline between average and overweight so it couldn't have been for my body. Not that there's anything wrong with my body, but I wouldn't say it was up to society's standards and if someone were to go to the trouble of abducting someone from their home, you'd think they'd go for someone who wasn't me. Besides, I didn't really _feel _traumatized and emotionally and physically scarred.

As I weighed the possibilities in my head, I missed the girl's reply. "I'm sorry, but what did you just say?" I asked, deciding to actually listen this time.

"Domino City Plaza," she repeated slowly.

"The fuck is Domino City Plaza..." I mumbled, beginning to feel a bit feint. Something about that seemed familiar, but my head hurt so much that I couldn't think straight. I was sweating under my light uniform top and I didn't know if it was the pain or the sun, but closing my eyes for a long time was starting to sound good, so I did just that.

#

A soft beeping sound interrupted my sleep. I groaned and tried to make myself comfortable in my bed.

Wait...

I inhaled as I sat up. Wasn't I outside? I mean the bed was much nicer than the pavement, but...

I was in a recovery room at a hospital. As I looked around, a nurse approached me. She was dressed in a knee length white skirt, a button up shirt, and a hat. She looked like she came out of the forties or something. Since when did nurses anywhere dress like that?

Anyway, that wasn't the point. She walked up to me, holding a clipboard and pen. "Hello," she greeted, "how are you doing? Does your head hurt at all? Any dizziness, nausea?"

"Umm... no, I think I'm okay." I put a hand over my stomach just to be sure. "Where am I?" I asked.

"Domino Hospital," she replied distracted, jotting something down on her clipboard. "Now that you're awake, I'm going to need you to tell me some things, alright?"

"Where's Domino Hospital?" I asked, ignoring her question. I wasn't in my house and I needed to know why. Actually, I was proud of myself for how well I was handling this at the moment.

"In Domino City," the nurse replied uncertainly, like this was something I was supposed to know.

I knew Domino City. I was sure I knew it, but how did I know it?

I turned my attention to the television. _"We are now speaking to the genius behind it all and the CEO of KaibaCorp, Seto Kaiba, who is here to tell us about his revolutionary duel disks."_

"S-Seto Kaiba..." I stuttered, gaping at the screen. "W-What the fuck?"

Domino City. I knew Domino City from Yu-Gi-Oh! I knew Seto Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh. But Yu-Gi-Oh wasn't real, right? It was an anime and a manga and none of it was real. So why did the boy on TV who happened to be named Seto Kaiba look an awful lot like the anime character also coincidentally named Seto Kaiba?

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I looked away from the television and back at the concerned nurse. She was writing something down on her clipboard. "Do you know your name, ma'am?"

"Yeah…" I replied with uncertainty.

"Can you tell me, please?"

"Um, yeah…Lorna." I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed. Great. What if they asked for my address next? You can laugh at me for being seventeen and having no idea what my address was.

"And your last name?" she asked.

"Am I okay?" I countered suddenly.

She looked surprised but answered easily enough. "You have a bit of a concussion. You must've had a bad fall" –

I saw my apartment buildings stairwell flash in front of my eyes in a blur. I felt the familiar sensation of falling and shuddered back to reality, or at least, what seemed to be reality. "I did fall," I told her. "I fell down the stairs… but I didn't fall in Domino City Plaza," I said insistently. "Or anywhere near it," I added, speaking slowly so she would pay attention.

The nurse looked slightly alarmed, but nodded silently. "Can you tell me about your fall?"

I began without missing a beat. "I was going down the stairs in my apartment building and I tripped and fell," I told her, opting to keep out the part about not tying my shoelaces. I mean, she only cared about the fall, so let's not add in those embarrassing little details. "I must've fallen down about one flight of stairs or something. I remember crashing into the railing and… it broke and I remember falling down… and then nothing."

The nurse clutched her clipboard tightly and looked me over. "Are you sure?" she said, looking a bit pale.

Hey, I admit it was a close one, but by some miracle I survived. "Yes…" I confirmed.

"You fell over the railing… how far?" she asked.

"About one story," I told her quickly.

"You must be mistaken."

"Mistaken?"

"Yes," she said, "There is no way you can fall one story and make it out with a bump on your head and a concussion." She quietly contemplated before speaking again. "Do you remember falling on something, or someone?"

I strained myself in thought. I saw the marble on the ground floor of the building and a dull pain in my chest, almost like an echo. "No," I told her, clutching my chest. "I don't remember. I remember just… crashing. I remember my chest hurting and…"

By the time I had finished speaking, the nurse was halfway across the room, heading towards an elderly man who seemed to be a higher ranked doctor. He glanced at me as she spoke to him. He came towards me and smiled gently. "Hello, my name is Dr. Geoff," he said. "You're a very lucky girl surviving a fall like that."

I nodded silently. Tell me about it. "I need to go home. I'm not from Domino City. I have to get out of here."

Dr. Geoff nodded. "I understand. We've contacted the authorities and they're going to help you get home, alright?"

"O-Okay…"

"You can stand, right?" he asked. I nodded. "Good. Your clothes are on the nightstand. I'm going to shut the curtains so you can get yourself changed."

I blushed. The idea of changing like this made me uneasy. I had done it before when I was younger. It wasn't the first time I had gone to the hospital, but I was much younger then. Now I just felt exposed. The curtain was swiftly shut and I dove under the covers with my clothes. If I was going to change, I'd give them as little visibility as possible.

#

A short trip downtown and several questions later, the police came back to me with skeptic looks on their faces that I had only ever seen on my parents when I was lying. "There are no girls matching your description missing in Arizona. The address that you gave us for your apartment building doesn't exist," a tall cop with a buzz cut told me. I had nicknamed him "Bad Cop" since he hadn't smiled once since I arrived at the station. "Lying to the authorities is a felony, _Lorna._ If that's your _real_ name."

I rolled my eyes. "I admit the name is a bit uncommon, but guys, _come on!_ Why would I lie to you? What would I possibly have to gain from sending the police on a wild goose chase?" _Other than hours of priceless entertainment. _Still though, I was actually telling the truth.

"I'm sorry, Lorna," a second cop said. He was the one I nicknamed "Good Cop" "If you can't cooperate with us, we'll have to let you go." He smiled apologetically. "I can give you a cab fare for your house…"

"No!" I told Good Cop. "I'm telling you I don't live here!"

Good Cop sighed and shook his head. "Try a real address next time," he told me, giving me five dollars. I took the money reluctantly as I was ushered out of the police station.

I looked around. Well, it was the first time I had ever been kicked to the curb in my whole life. Typical to have it happen when I can least afford it –well, not literally as I had enough money to take a cab somewhere, but where could I possibly go?

I heard a car horn and watched a taxi stop in front of me. Taxis stopping for people gratuitously? Something was definitely wrong with this place. The driver stuck his head through the window and called out to me. "Do you need a ride, kid?"

I stumbled over my words, but eventually I spat out a "Yes."

"Hop in," he said, gesturing to the backseat.

Should I trust this guy? Apparently, my body did as it entered the car without even waiting for my brain to reach a conclusion.

"Where to?"

"Um…" I said quietly. I had no idea where to go, but I couldn't stay at the station forever and it was beginning to get dark outside. "Kame Game Shop," I said quickly. "D-Do you know where that is?" I asked meekly. I really hoped he did because I sure as hell didn't.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," the man said and the taxi took off.

Thankfully, the taxi driver didn't try to kidnap me, which was great. I now stood in front of a quaint shop. It said "Game" in large letters at the top and it was unmistakably the same building from the anime. It was still open and I sighed with relief. Being somewhere somewhat familiar made the pressure on my shoulders drop significantly. I was still miles away from home, but I knew this place. I wasn't completely lost.

I began to walk towards the door. The inviting open sign making me walk faster. I was now just a step away. I extended my arm to push the door open when a strong force knocked the wind out of me. I was so close. What was happening to me?

"Lorna." My name echoed in my head, but not in my voice.

_Who are you? _I asked.

I couldn't feel anything anymore but a great pressure on my chest. I couldn't help but feel that if that pressure were any greater, it would pierce my ribs and kill me. I imagined my torso exploding and my boobs flying away in aftermath of the blast. It made me chuckle a bit.

"Focus, Lorna," the voice said, sounding a bit exasperated.

_Sorry, _I replied. _Ugh, you can tell me your name now._

"That's not important."

_So what the hell do I call you? Almighty voice?_

"If that pleases you," it replied.

_I'll bet being called almighty pleases you. I'll just call you Voice._

Voice was annoyed now. "Call me whatever you want, but listen to me! Do you know how you got here?"

_No, but I'm betting you're about to tell me._

"Lorna, you're in purgatory."

_You mean like Dean from Supernatural?_

"No…" Voice said slowly. "This is a bit different. You have a mission to accomplish."

Mission? What the hell could I possibly do? I couldn't even talk to the cashier at Burger King without help. _What do I have to do?_

I felt the Voice hesitate. "You have to save the world." There was a tiny hint of "Fuck me. How did I get myself into this?" in Voice's tone. It worried me and I had every right to be worried. I had to save the fucking world? I was hardly capable. Talk about tragic overestimation.

_How do I save the world? _I asked, sounding a bit nervous. _It would be nice to know what I was saving it from as well…_

"You can learn a great deal from Yugi Muto." The Voice was still unsure, but it didn't seem to be changing its mind anytime soon.

_Am I dead? _I asked. _Oh, God. I'm dead, right? I fell off the stairs and cracked my neck! I'm as dead as Dumbledore at the end of the Half-Blood Prince._

"Hey! I didn't get there yet! No spoilers!"

_Seriously? Have you been living under a rock? Snape kills him._

"Stop it!" the Voice screams in anguish. After calming down a bit, it answers my question. "You're not dead, though. You're just really unconscious."

_Like a coma?_

"Precisely."

_But why Yu-Gi-Oh? I haven't read the manga and I haven't even watched the whole anime series either. To be quite frank, if this is some sort of scheme to put me in a fandom that I've always wanted to be in, I don't think you chose the right one._

"Would you rather be in Game of Thrones?"

_On second thought, card games are brilliant! When do we start?_

"I thought so."

_Well, I just have to ask one more thing. _I felt the Voice waiting. _Am I in the Japanese version or…_

"It's the 4kids version."

_I fucking hate you._

"At least it's not the Singapore version…" its voice began to fade as it said that and the pressure on my chest began to ease.

* * *

**_Wow, I don't feel any better right now... Anyway, that's that. Reviews would be lovely._**


	3. The Yugi Muto

_**The fact that I got reviews from such flawless people makes my poor little heart flutter. So here's the second chapter! I hope y'all enjoy it.**_

* * *

I felt my vision begin to return and the feeling was returning to my limbs. I was regaining consciousness. "At least it's not the Singapore version…" I mumbled under my breath. I suppose the Voice did spare me the horror of an overuse of "Dude" It wasn't much of a consolation, though.

My hands were at my side, which meant that I had fainted gracefully and landed like that, or someone had carried me off of the cold ground. It appeared to be the latter. My hands felt something like soft cotton and there was a pillow under my head. It wasn't as great as my bed back home, but it was nicer than the hospital bed.

"Grandpa!" someone called out loudly. "She's awake."

I winced. Whoever this was seemed to be more clueless than I was, and that meant that he was pretty clueless. I sat up and looked at the offender. I was struck by the largeness of his hair and the purple-ness of the highlights. I resisted the urge to randomly yell out his name in surprise, and let me tell you, it was a tough struggle.

"How are you doing?" I was asked by none other than Yugi -motherfucking- Muto.

I could hear footsteps on a hollow floor and a second person appeared. "Yugi! Give her some space!" he said, pushing Yugi out of the way and sitting in his place. What was that about giving me space?

"Sorry, Grandpa," Yugi muttered, his fingers went down to play with the chain holding his millennium puzzle. To be quite honest, I was a dumbass to not have seen it until then, but I was too distracted by Yugi's hair to look at his accessories.

The old man pushed my shoulders gently, easing me back down onto the bed and I offered little resistance. "You need to rest," he told me. "You had quite a fall outside of my shop. Too bad the guy that found you couldn't see you wake up!" He threw his head back laughing.

"Who found me?" I asked. I was surprised at how weak my voice sounded.

"Oh, it was one of my grandson's friends. He carried you all the way up here." Solomon chuckled and raised his eyebrows suggestively.

I hadn't been awake for five minutes and this man is already trying to fix me up with Tristan.

_Why Tristan?_ you ask?

Because who else makes a habit of carrying unconscious people around in this godforsaken show?

However, my only request was that if I was going to be a self-insert, could I at least be paired with someone who _wasn't_ Tristan? Please and thank you.

Yugi seemed oblivious to his grandfather's suggestiveness –not that his grandfather was suggestive in any way. I simply used suggestive in a way to imply that he was being suggestive through his intentions, which suggest things going on between me and someone who isn't Yugi's grandfather. I was not using it to imply that Solomon Muto was attracting me in any way. Stop it, you fucking assholes.

"Are you okay?" Grandpa asked in concern. "Your face is heating up!"

I nodded in embarrassment. This was not the time to be talking to my imaginary friends.

He got to his feet. "Well, I'm going to go get some tea for you. Yugi will keep you company." He left the room and shut the door behind him.

It only then dawned on me that I was in Yugi's bed. Somehow, I didn't think there was anything wrong with that. It may have been because I didn't take Yugi seriously, which sounds terrible, but he was really adorable and if you could see him in real life it was like he wasn't even in high school. They don't make them this adorable anymore.

"I don't really need to stay in bed, right?" I asked Yugi. I was beginning to feel really hot under the covers and I needed a breeze.

Yugi shook his head. "Nah, my grandpa was just a bit worried, but if you think you're alright, then I guess you are."

I smiled gratefully and got out of bed. I sat at the edge of the bed and Yugi followed suit. "So… you're Yugi?" I asked, trying to sound casual. Of course he was Yugi. Why wouldn't he be Yugi? He was _the_ Yugi. You can't get more Yugi than that.

"Yeah," he replied. "What's your name?"

"Lorna," I said, smiling slightly. _Idiot! You could have given yourself a really cool Mary Sue name like Yvette Blackthorne or something and nobody would have thought twice about it. Now you're stuck in Yu-Gi-Oh land, you can't duel and your name is motherfucking Lorna! You motherfucking idiot!_

"That's a really cool name!" he said enthusiastically.

"Really? Thanks!" I said, feeling my cheeks heat up a bit. Most people just called my name a grandma name. Nobody really ever thought it was cool.

"Really!" Yugi affirmed with the same enthusiasm. "I've never heard it before. Were you named for something special?"

"Um…" I began. "I guess. I was named after some girl in a novel or something. My parents were big literature buffs and thought it was a totally good idea to scar their only daughter for life."

Yugi frowned for a bit then his face lit up again. It was like watching a puppy make a tough decision. "You shouldn't listen to what anyone else says. People only like your name if you like your name. It's your confidence that forms other peoples' opinions on you."

I didn't know if it would be appropriate to hug Yugi at that moment, so I opted to look down at my feet. A nervous feeling ate at me as we sat in silence. When were they going to ask about my parents? What would they do when they found out that I couldn't go home? What would I tell them? I could see this going down like it did in every Self-Insert Fanfic ever. I would lie about my origins and end up in an embarrassing confrontation where everyone and their mother realizes that I'm a fucking piece of shit liar and is never to be trusted again. At least, that's how it went in most fanfics.

"So where do you live, Lorna?" Yugi asked innocently. His hand went down to fiddle with his millennium puzzle again. He sure did that a lot. Was that in the anime as well? I didn't remember him doing it all that often.

"Nowhere," I said quickly, maybe a bit too quickly. "I don't live anywhere." He looked at me in confusion. "I-I'm an orphan," I stuttered, looking away from him. I hoped he would buy that pile of crap I just tried to sell him. To my surprise, he seemed to be taking every word I spoke entirely seriously.

Sometime right about now, Yugi was supposed to offer me a place to stay. That's how it happened in all the fanfics. I glanced at the boy beside me. He had a strange glimmer in his eye, like a strong will to do something, but he also looked a bit conflicted like he was in the middle of an important conversation. Finally, he looked at me with his usual bright smile. "Do you wanna stay here with me and my grandpa and my mom?" I fucking called it!

The offer seemed too good to be true. Did Yugi really think just inviting a random girl to live with his family was a good idea? In spite of that, I still couldn't hold in my excitement. "Are you sure that's okay?" I asked.

He nodded. "My mom wouldn't mind another girl in the house," he said with a chuckle. He jumped to his feet. "Let me just go ask my grandpa! Stay right here!" _There isn't really anywhere else for me to go..._ He ran out of the room in hurry.

I waited a few minutes for Yugi to come back then I heard a soft knock on the door. Without waiting for a response, a small woman entered the room with a tray of tea. Everything about her was soft, from the way she walked to the way she said her "Hello." She was definitely Yugi's mother. I thought this was the 4kids dub where Yugi's parents didn't exist.

The woman took me over to a spare room. Why was it that people always had spare rooms? My house didn't have a spare room. I decided not to question it too much. I mean, I was in a coma. A suspiciously convenient spare room was the least of my worries.

"It's a bit small," she said, stepping inside the room which had no walking space due to the bed and the chest of drawers which were painstakingly stuffed in there. "We never expected to use this room so I hope you don't mind." She smiled kindly and put the tray she was holding on the chest.

"Don't worry about it. This is definitely more than enough for me. You're really kind to let me stay here." True, the room was miniscule, but it was cozy and I didn't think I would mind staying in it at all. Thankfully, I wasn't the claustrophobic type.

"Hi, mom!" Yugi exclaimed as he appeared behind his mother. He looked absolutely over the moon. Was this all because I was staying over? I didn't remember him being this easy to please.

He almost plowed past his mother and took one of the cups of tea. "This is for you. It's grandpa's famous black tea." His grandpa had famous black tea? I raised an eyebrow. There were so many things in this world that weren't in the anime. I needed to keep my eyes open. I had a lot to learn about this place.

I took the steaming cup from his hands. It smelled heavenly. I just realized how hungry I was. It was quite early in the morning when I had my breakfast and subsequently fell to my doom in my apartment building stairwell and I hadn't eaten anything since I came here. I was starving.  
As I stood next to Yugi, I soon learned something else that was quite new. His face was at eye level for me and that could only mean one thing; I was as short as Yugi Muto. I mean, I knew I was short, but I didn't think I was that short. Hopefully, this didn't mean that all of Yugi's friends were giants compared to me.

"If you guys need anything, I'll be in the living room, alright?" Yugi's mother said, turning around. "And don't go to sleep too late." She briskly walked away.

"Do you know a game called Duel Monsters?" Yugi asked immediately after his mother left the room.

I grinned. Now we're talking! "Definitely."

That was how the rest of the evening started. I built myself a pretty nice Light monster deck that only existed in my dreams. Grandpa would probably make me pay him back for the cards, but I decided not to worry about that. I spent my time trying to beat Yugi in a duel, but y'all know how impossible that is. Still, he was more than happy to give me a few pointers and by the end of the night I felt a bit better about myself and perhaps even a bit more skilled at dueling.

#

The next morning I woke up to a quiet knock on my door, one if Mrs. Muto's trademarks. "Wake up, Lorna. Breakfast is ready."

I felt a low grumble of anticipation in my gut. I didn't eat much yesterday. I had forgotten my hunger while I was dueling, but now it was the only thing on my mind. I needed to eat.

I leapt out if bed, dressed in one of Mrs. Muto's pajamas. It fit me perfectly. For once, my shortness was helping me out.

When I arrived at the kitchen, Yugi and his grandpa were already digging into their eggs. I felt my stomach lurch again. I needed that food inside me. I took the empty seat next to Yugi and began to eat.

"I'm meeting my friend Joey in a few minutes," Yugi told me after breakfast. "He's also a great duelist!"

I strained my mind to remember what part of the series this was. If Joey was a great duelist, then this was obviously after Duelist Kingdom. I mean, Joey sucked before that. I also remembered the interview I saw on TV at the hospital. Kaiba was talking about his new Duel Disks. This was the beginning of the Battle City arc.

"We're gonna be competing in a huge tournament soon so we're gonna be practicing together," he continued. Yep. Definitely Battle City. "Do you want to come?" he asked.

I started to say "Yes" then I remembered that I wasn't staying at this place for free. I couldn't just waltz around and adventure with Yugi when I had chores to do. "I can't go," I told him, smiling apologetically. "I have to help out your mom and your grandpa in the shop."

Yugi frowned and looked over at the doorway leading to the shop part of his house for a moment. "I've got an idea!" he said suddenly. "Why don't I have Joey come over here? He'd love to meet you! And we'll keep you company while you finish up your chores!"

I smiled. Yugi was being really mindful of me. No wonder everyone liked him so much. "I'd like to see an epic match between two great duelists. That sounds great," I said. I couldn't hide my smile.

* * *

**_Okay, before you leave, I have an important question. Next chapter, Lorna gets to duel for the first time (well, not the first, but you know what I mean), however, I'd like to know from you guys whether or not to write out the duels or not? Would that bore you? Or would you be into that? Because it's all the same to me. _**

**_Just to let you know, by writing out the duels, I mean I'll only write the ones that happen outside of the canon, so if something happened in the anime, I'll expect you to know what happened. I'm not really interested in rewriting the whole season + my character. This will have an actual plot that is almost completely unrelated from the canon plot. (or at least, I hope to do that)_**

**_Anyway, if anyone wants or doesn't want me to write out duels, now is the time to speak up._**


	4. And the Winner is

**_So this is where Lorna has her first duel. You may or may not find this interesting. Thank you again for all your reviews!_**

* * *

"Aww man! I keep losing!"

I giggled as I wiped a shelf. When Joey arrived, Yugi wasted no time introducing us. To my great relief, the height difference between us wasn't as great as I had anticipated and yes, he was more adorable in real life. He and Yugi had been dueling for an hour as I cleaned each individual shelf and object in the store. I didn't mind the hard work much. I was enjoying myself, listening to the boys duel behind me.

"Hey! Hey! Cut it out!" the blonde snapped at me. I laughed louder to spite him. "I bet I could beat you in a duel any day!" he challenged with a smirk. I looked away from him and got started on putting back the merchandise I had removed from the shelf earlier. "How about it? You and me!" he declared.

Without looking back at him I replied, "Can't. I've got chores to do. Grandpa would kill me if he found me slacking off."

I heard Joey snigger. "That's chicken talk. I bet you're too scared to take on the Duelist Kingdom runner up!"

"You think _I'm_ afraid of dueling _you_?" I asked, trying not to let my competitive side take over. What would I give to kick Joey's ass at dueling? After several humiliating defeats in Power of Chaos? Well, just about anything, but I still had responsibilities and I didn't want Yugi's grandpa to kick me out. "You're just not worth my time, Joey."

"Oh, really?" he shot back. It was hilarious listening to Joey get fired up like this.

Yugi stepped in to simmer things down. "You can duel her another time, Joey. She really does have to finish up her chores though. And Grandpa would kill me, too, if I distracted her."

"Well, I'm sure Gramps wouldn't mind if we helped out a bit." A new voice came from behind me and I placed the last _Axe Raider_ figurine on the shelf before turning around to see the newcomers.

"Tristan! Téa!" Yugi greeted happily. "How are you guys?"

"Great! We came to watch you guys practice," Téa said, setting her handbag on the cashier's desk.

"Yeah," Tristan added, "and we woulda been here sooner if Téa didn't go shopping first."

Téa's eye twitched. "Well, you're the one that took too long to carry my bags to my house."

"You're the one that had too many bags!" Tristan complained, rubbing his arms.

Ignoring him, Téa came over to me. "Hey, you're that girl from yesterday!"

I nodded and gave her my hand. "I'm Lorna."

"She's staying with me right now because she doesn't have a place to go." I smiled as Yugi fed them my lie. "Lorna," he said, "These are my friends, Téa and Tristan."

"It's nice to meet you guys," I told them.

"Well, if we're gonna help Lorna get this place cleaned up, then we're gonna have to get started!" Tristan announced, running his finger down one of the shelves I hadn't gotten to yet. "Look at that dust! This place needs some serious cleaning."

Joey sniffed the air around him, reminding me a bit of a dog. "Tristan's got a point. You guys ready for some chores?" The other three chimed in with a loud "Yes!" If there were a Barney show for teenagers, this would probably be it. I really hoped they wouldn't burst into their rendition of the _Clean-up Song_.

"You guys don't really have to..." I tried to say half-heartedly.

Yugi heard my statement and smiled to reassure me. "You're our friend and we can't just sit around and goof off while you work hard!"

"I'm your friend?" I asked, feeling a bit unsure.

Yugi nodded enthusiastically. "You are if you want to be."

Being around these guys was giving me warm, fluffy friendship feelings. I had never really felt that way before. Maybe being in a coma wasn't too bad, but I swear to God, if these kids started to sing the_ I Love You Song_, I would be 9000% done with them. I smiled at him and said, "We should get to work. We can't let Téa, Tristan and Joey do all the work!"

I saw Yugi's eyes light up warmly. "Alright!"

#

So, I didn't know when exactly my life turned into the happy friendship sparkle show and how I got strung along, but I had heard the words "Together" and "Friends" way too many times in one day and by the time the five of us were done cleaning up the game shop, I began to regain my senses and realize that I was never the type of person who was good with feelings. You could get an overdose of feelings with this crowd, and that was what almost drove me insane.

Fortunately, the cleanup was over. Unfortunately, Joey was now calling my bluff and wanted an actual duel with me. Somehow, I doubted I would be able to really beat him at duel monsters. Well, I could, if he underestimated me, but let's be real here; how low would his opinion of me as a duelist have to be for it to officially count as underestimation? I'd say fifty leagues under the sea. If you have any lower guesses, please go ahead and place them. I didn't deserve the deck that Yugi helped me put together.

"I'm actually looking forward to seeing how this will go," Tristan said, taking a seat around the table that Joey and Yugi had set up for their dueling.

"I'm not…" I sputtered with a nervous giggle as Yugi ushered me into the seat that he had been sitting in earlier.

Joey smirked as he took a seat opposite of me. "So you really are all talk?"

"Yep. One hundred percent liar. No dueling talent at all," I said quickly, watching as Yugi placed my deck on the table. He was really excited about this and I was totally going to disappoint him.

He gave me a warm, reassuring smile. "Don't say that, Lorna. I'm sure you'll do fine. You're better than you think!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Yugi," I told him as Joey and I began to shuffle our decks.

Joey went first, summoning an _Axe Raider_ in attack mode. At 1700 attack points, _Axe Raider_ was pretty strong. I just hoped I'd draw some good cards or I'd get my ass kicked by a four star monster. That wouldn't really be my crowning moment of glory. "Your move," he said with a smirk. He seemed very cocky; possibly cockier than he was in the TV show.

I drew my first five cards and looked them over. I tried not to grin too obviously at my hand. I set a facedown monster –_Jenis, Lightsworn Mender_ with 300 attack points and 2100 defense. It wasn't the best card I had, but its defense was strong enough to ward off Joey's monsters for a while. I smiled maliciously at the _Ookazi _card in my hand and activated it.

"Didn't think I'd be the first one to lose life points," Joey grumbled and glowered at my card as I moved it to my empty graveyard pile.

"It's just 800 life points Joey. This duel's just getting started," I told him, trying not to giggle impishly because I doubted it would sound cute.

"Hey! Don't get cocky!"_ Look who's talking. _I rolled my eyes. "It's my turn now!"

He drew a card and frowned slightly. Then he took a card out of his hand and activated it. "I activate _Pot of Greed_! Now I get to draw two more cards." He set a facedown card and summoned _Rocket Warrior._ It had 1500 attack. It was still too weak to make a dent in my _Jenis's _defense. "Alright! _Rocket Warrior_! Attack her facedown monster!"

I flipped my card face up and stuck my tongue out. "Not so fast, Joey. My _Jenis, Lightsworn Mender_ has 2100 defense points. You know what that means!"

"What!" he cried incredulously. He growled. "Yeah, well, I activate my spell card! _Graceful Dice_!"

Yugi grabbed a dice from his grandfather's table. Needless to say, this tabletop dueling was probably much less exciting than the hologram-based dueling those guys were used to. He rolled the dice. I watched the humorous expression on Joey's face as he rooted for a two or higher. As hilarious as that was, I knew that there was a high chance that I was about to take some serious damage.

"Alright! I got a three! My _Rocket Warrior's _attack triples!" he yelped in excitement and smiled deviously as he watched my expression darken. My _Jenis_ was done for! He didn't hesitate to attack and I grabbed her card and put it in my graveyard, sulking. He chuckled. "Now it's time for my _Axe Raider_ to take a huge chunk outta your life points!"

**Joey: 3200**

**Lorna: 2300**

I glared miserably at the smirk on his face. "Yeah, yeah. This duel's not over yet!" I reminded him.

I sighed as I drew a _Binding Chain_ with 1100 defense and even less attack points. However, I still had _Shining Abyss _in my hand. It may have had 100 less attack points less than _Axe Raider_, but it still had more than enough defense. Maybe my luck would change in the next turn –but then again, maybe not. I decided to set _Shining Abyss_ and activate my facedown card _Gift of the Mystical Elf_, which gave me 300 life points for every monster I controlled and raised me up to 2600 life points. It wasn't much, but I had to get some life points back.

Joey drew a card and grinned evilly. He was doing that a lot. I was really failing miserably at this duel. He glanced at his hand and then back at me. "Come on!" I cried. "What are you waiting for?"

"I'm thinking about whether or not to mop the floor with you now, or let you suffer a bit."

I glared. "Get on with it, Joey."

"Nah! I got a tournament to get ready for! So I'm gonna end this quickly."

I rolled my eyes. "Can you just get on with it?" I told him impatiently.

"Geez! Fine!" he exclaimed. "I sacrifice my two monsters to summon my _Red-Eyes Black Dragon_!" Well, I was screwed. "_Red-Eyes_, attack her facedown monster!"

I grumbled miserably and placed my _Shining_ _Abyss_ in the graveyard. At least it was in defense mode so I wouldn't lose lifepoints. However, it was still gonna be tough getting rid of that _Red-Eyes._ A hilarious thought popped up in my head. What if I believed in the heart of the cards? I almost sniggered. _Oh! Heart of the cards! Guide me!_ With that thought in mind, I drew a card.

I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't imagining things. I had just drawn _Mirror Force_. That was probably the luckiest draw I had ever drawn in my whole entire life, which wasn't saying much since I was a generally unlucky person anyway.

_I am so sorry, Heart of the cards. I will never doubt you again._

Keeping a good poker face up, I set the card down and set down my _Binding Chain_ in defense mode. "I'm done now. Your turn."

No matter how much I boast about my flawless poker face, Joey definitely seemed wary of my trap card. I probably should have been a bit more careful about hiding my face when I drew it, especially since I was on the verge of laughing out loud about believing in the heart of the cards, which turned out to be serious business apparently.

I saw him look at my _Mirror Force _and set a facedown card. He didn't look like he was going to attack anytime soon. He closed his eyes and smiled. "You get to live another day, Lorna. Congrats." His eyes opened again, full of fire. "Your turn."

"Fine," I mumbled with a glare and drew a card. I first decided to activate the _Soul of the Pure_ which I had just drawn, giving me an extra 800 life points. I began to contemplate summoning the _Agent of Judgment. _It was the only card in my hand at that moment and it had been in my hand from the first draw. It required one sacrifice and it was just as strong as Joey's _Red-Eyes. _Then I began to eye his facedown card. If it was a trap card, it could possibly destroy my card. "I end my turn," I said after doing absolutely nothing.

**Joey: 3200**

**Lorna: 3400**

Joey drew his next card and stared intently at his hand before making his move. "I think I'll have my _Red-Eyes_ destroy that facedown monster."

"Careful, Joey," Yugi warned from the sidelines.

"Not so fast!" I exclaimed, flipping up my trap card.

Joey grimaced. "I shoulda known." He placed his dragon in the graveyard. However, he didn't seem as beat up about the loss as one would think and he _did _fall way too easily into my trap. Was he up to something? Still, whatever he was planning, his lifepoints still went all the way down to 1800 and that was definitely good for me. Plus, I still had one monster on the field so I could summon my _Agent of Judgment._

When I was lost in thought, I missed out on Joey activating a magic card from his hand. I looked up to see _Monster Reborn _in the graveyard and a very alive _Red-Eyes Black Dragon._ No wonder he was so eager to activate my trap. He knew he could bring back his monster anyway.

I sighed and drew a card. _Monster Reborn_? Seriously? Well, that was useless –or was it? I glanced over at Joey's graveyard. He didn't exactly have the wrong idea when he killed his _Red-_Eyes then brought it back. My _Agent of Judgment _and his _Red-Eyes_ were evenly matched, too, so if his facedown card _wasn't_ a trap, then I'd be killing his _Red-Eyes._

I decided to sacrifice _Binding Chain_ to bring out _Agent of Judgment_ – _Saturn._ Joey raised his eyebrows. "And what are you gonna do with that? It's not stronger than my _Red-Eyes._"

"I know," I told him. "But I'm attacking your _Red-Eyes _anyway!"

He smirked. "Well, tough luck!" he told me, flipping over his trap card. It was _Chasm of Spikes._ I waited for him to explain it. "Now, your attack is cancelled and your _Agent of Judgment_ goes straight to the graveyard –along with 600 of your life points!" I frowned. My life points were back under 3000 again.

**Joey: 1800**

**Lorna: 2800**

I bit my lip and pulled out my own _Monster Reborn._ "Well, my _Agent_'s not gone for good!"

"Y'know," Joey said with a grin. "They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

"Yeah, yeah, just make your move!" I told him, narrowing my eyes.

Téa giggled and said, "Look at those two going at it!"

Yugi smiled. "Yeah, they're really alike, aren't they?"

Téa nodded. "Mhm. It's almost like watching the same person duel himself," she quipped, knowing her remark would get to at least one of us.

"Hey!" Joey snapped, waving his fist around in outrage. "I can hear you two! Don't compare me to a girl!" And Téa was right.

I narrowed my eyes at that comment. "What's wrong, Joey? You should be honored to be compared to someone like me," I told him, flicking my hair behind my shoulder.

"Just make your move already!" I reminded him.

He drew a card from his deck and glanced at his hand. "Your _Agent of Judgment _is pretty strong," he told me.

"Yeah, so?"

"It's got a fatal flaw though," he said.

I cocked my head to the side in confusion. "What?" I looked over at my monster. _Oh, no. _I knew exactly what Joey meant by "fatal flaw". _That fuckface had better not be thinking what I think he's thinking._

"Say, Yug'," I heard Tristan say from beside me. "What's Joey talking about?"

Yugi seemed to have caught on to what Joey was planning. "Her monster may have high attack points, but its defense points are zero."

"I activate my _Shield and Sword_!" Joey announced. My monster's attack just went down to zero! "And that's not all!" he added. "I'm gonna activate _Graverobber_ to take the _Monster Reborn _in your graveyard so I can bring back my _Axe Raider._ And since my _Axe Raider_ was special summoned after I activated _Shield and Sword_, he still has 1700 attack points." _Ugh, just put me out of my misery now!_

I ran a hand through my hair and murmured. "I told you guys I suck at this game." But do they listen to me? _Nooooooo._ They just have to be decent people who believe in me no matter how low my self-esteem is. Unforgivable.

"Hey! Keep your chin up!" Joey told me with a big smile. "You weren't half bad!"

"Yeah," Téa added. "You did really well against Joey." I looked over at the spectators. All three of them gave me encouraging nods.

"We oughta have a rematch later, after you've practiced some more," Joey said. "You just might beat me next time."

I couldn't help but smile. It was nice to see that he wasn't rubbing it in my face. "I look forward to it!" I replied.

"Alright, then," Tristan announced, "All this dueling is makin' me hungry! Who's up for some pizza?"

"Ooh! Me! Me! _Me_!" I exclaimed, raising my hand like an excited child. What can I say? I was a girl with a taste for pizza with extra cheese and everything on top.

* * *

**_So Lorna lost. Did you really expect any different? REALLY?_**

**_Anyway, this is sort of a preview to the sort of duels I'll be writing. Please tell me if you like this style or if you'd like something a bit less detailed or something. Also, I know this one was boring because they were dueling on a table, but later on there will be holograms so that should be fun! Also, in case you haven't noticed, I'm using anime rulings for some cards, like Graceful Dice and Mirror Force. Their effects are mighty convenient compared to their real life counterparts, don't you think?_**

**_As always, I'd love constructive criticism and feedback :D_**


	5. Lies and Truth

**_Hey, guys! I decided to update a little bit earlier than usual since I have like 3 chapters written in advance and I just finished my exams today! If I keep writing at this rate, my updates may even come faster still (though, for me, updating any faster than this is a bit ambitious). Anyway, onto the chapter ~_**

* * *

If Yugi and Joey were meant to be dueling, it was obvious that nobody remembered. The pizza was Tristan's treat, which meant that it was free, making it taste _that _much better. I _tried_ not to eat too much in front of my new friends. I mean, it was too early for them to realize how much of a glutton I was. However, I emphasize on_ tried_ because I ate a whole pizza single-handedly. It made me self-conscious to see Téa eat a modest three slices. Oh, well… at least I wasn't the only one with a large appetite. The boys ate just as much as I did, making me feel a bit better.

I confess I didn't quite know what to expect when hanging out with Yugi and the gang. I had a fleeting anxious thought that I would end up watching them talk together about stuff I didn't know about and be completely left out. I was surprised however, to find that they took every opportunity they could to ask me about myself and what I liked to do. It sucked that I had to lie about most of the stuff. I _was_ an "orphan" after all.

"Did you know who they were?" Joey asked as he and Yugi shuffled each other's decks. They were done with their break and were dueling again. Téa, Tristan and I were sitting on the ground around them.

"What do you mean?" I asked, twirling a lock of my hair between my fingers.

"Your mom and dad," he replied softly.

I felt my gut sink. "I did," I told him. Of course I did. I lived with them up until a couple of days ago. I could feel my voice shake. I really, _really_ didn't like lying.

I saw him give me a sympathetic glance and felt Téa's slender hand rest on my shoulder. They must have mistaken my anxiety for sorrow. The lump in my throat grew. "It must be hard."

I gave him a miserable look. I didn't want him to keep talking. "It is…" The words came out of my mouth as a barely audible whisper. I was never good at lying. Eventually, my voice would be gone completely and I would only be able to either nod or shake my head in response to their questions.

"How old were you?" Joey, you need to shut the fuck up or I will cry.

I felt my heart thudding against my ribcage and shot to my feet. "I'm sorry," I said; or at least I tried to speak as I dashed out of the room, but my throat was dry and nothing would come out of my mouth except for a dry, raspy wheeze. I decided to run to my room and shut the door behind me. Luckily, the door had a lock.

As I sat down at the edge of my bed, I hugged my shoulders and tried to control my breathing. Why did I have to panic like that? Why did I have to run away? _Stupid! Stupid Lorna!_ I could feel myself shuddering. I hated being so socially inept that I had to curl up in a ball and cry every time I told a lie. I mean, _normal _people could handle one or two or three small lies and yet _I _had to be incapacitated.

_Great. Here come the waterworks!_ I thought wretchedly as my eyes began to water. I shut them tightly, trying not to cry, but somehow, that made things worse. I choked out a sob and stuffed half of my fist into my mouth to prevent any other sobs from emerging.

Isn't that the most pathetic thing you've ever seen?

I just hated myself for being such a crybaby. And to make matters worse, Mrs. Muto hadn't given me a tissue box for my room yet. And while I wasn't exactly opposed to wiping my nose with my sleeve, I wasn't going to contaminate the clothes I had been so kindly given. In the end I simply held my hand over under my nose to prevent it from becoming even worse.

Three dull knocks interrupted my thoughts. I didn't say anything and simply waited for whoever was at the door to speak up. "Lorna, are you in there?" It was Téa.

I stumbled over to the door and contemplated whether or not to open it for her. What exactly would I say to her? Chances were that they thought the memory of my "deceased" parents had caused me to run off and cry, but if I dragged on my lie anymore, I would have another panic attack and if I didn't, how exactly would I explain to her why I was lying to begin with? I told the truth to the doctors and they thought I was insane. I told the truth to the police and they kicked me out into the street. Telling the truth wasn't exactly getting me far in this place.

Against my own instincts, I unlocked the door and let Téa in. Thankfully, she was alone. I didn't exactly know how I could handle all four of them bugging me to know why I was sobbing. I also wasn't very good with crying in front of boys.

Téa closed the door behind herself and sat at the edge of my bed where I had scurried moments after I had let her in. I saw her fish in her pocket for something and pull out a couple of tissues. "Here," she told me, handing them to me. I took them gratefully and wiped my nose, blowing it softly and trying not to sound really gross.

"I smacked Joey for you," she told me. "He shouldn't have forced you to talk about your parents like that… I know it must be tough and I just want you to know that if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to." She wrapped her arm around my shoulder and I found myself leaning into her. There was something very comforting about having Téa around. She had sort of a kindly aura surrounding her and I began to wonder why Yu-Gi-Oh fangirls even hated her in the first place.

"They're not dead," I muttered, gripping my pants tightly and waiting for her response.

"What?" Her voice sounded like she had been caught off-guard and I felt my stomach hurt at the thought of her finding out that I was lying.

I eased myself out of her grip and watched her expression change slowly into one of realization. "My parents aren't dead," I repeated. _Next time on the Totally Melodramatic Lorna Show…_ "But I think, I might be…" Hey, it was _kinda_ true, and I was trying to make a point.

Téa's face twisted into suspicion and then concern. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm not from here," I said.

"Not from Domino City?" she asked, but I could tell that she was already considering different meanings of my statement in her mind. She already knew about the Millennium items and ancient Egypt so my situation probably wasn't too far-fetched to her. After a moment, she spoke again. "You're from another realm?"

This girl was a lot smarter than I had originally given her credit for. "I am… sort of," I replied, feeling a bit better since I had told the truth, but also feeling sick since I didn't know how everyone would take this news. "I went into a coma in my world and now I'm in your world. I still don't know much about why I'm here, but I know I have to do something important and I was supposed to learn something from Yugi. I don't know what that is yet either."

"This has something to do with the Millennium items, doesn't it?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I don't know yet."

"Is your world some sort of parallel universe?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know that either, but it looks like it." As an afterthought, I said, "We don't have duel monsters in my world though…" Wait, that was wrong. "Well, I mean, we do, but it's not as popular… and it's sorta based on a show called Yu-Gi-Oh." I clasped my hands over my mouth. I certainly wasn't planning on telling her _that_ much. Right, so this is the taboo part, telling them that they were all an anime. Good luck, Lorna.

Téa seemed unsure of what to make of this information, but I was pretty sure it had clicked in her mind what the connection between Yugi and Yu-Gi-Oh was. "You have to tell Yami," she said immediately.

"Do I have to?" I asked. I confess I really wasn't feeling up to meeting Yami. I mean, he wasn't exactly the nicest guy on the block, considering all that twisted shit he did in Season Zero.

She nodded then said, "So my guess was right! You _do_ know who Yami is!" This smart Téa was gonna need some getting used to.

I nodded silently in response, putting the two of us in a bit of an awkward silence as we were both at a loss for what to say in this situation. I mean, it's not everyday that you end up in another dimension and have to break the news to everyone. And it's not everyday that you meet someone from another dimension either.

"Listen, Lorna," she finally said. "Nobody's gonna be mad at you for keeping this from us. I kinda get where you're coming from. I mean, you have no idea whether we'll believe you or not and so you lie to us, but you have to understand that, even though we just met you, we're your friends and we're here to support you no matter where you come from or how you got here."

"Thanks, Téa," I said quietly. She pulled me into another hug and we stayed like that for a moment before the taller girl pulled away.

And _that_, ladies and gentlemen, is how I got my first friendship speech.

"Why don't you go wash off your face," she told me. "I'll go tell Joey and Tristan what you just told me and I'll send Yugi over here so you can tell Yami yourself, okay?"

I nodded. I felt like the only Yu-Gi-Oh fangirl who shuddered at the thought of meeting Yami. He just scared me, alright? He may have been sexy in the anime, but so was Yami Bakura and I was not looking forward to meeting _that_ asshole either.

My bathroom break was fifty percent washing up and nine thousand percent panicking because I had no idea what I was going to say to Yami. Then I spent a good minute feeling awful since I was taking too long and that was probably going to irritate Yami too. Where was that mysterious voice now? I bet it was beginning to regret its decision to nominate me for the role of saving the world. I couldn't even speak to the spirit of a dead fifteen year-old kid without quaking in my boots.

Eventually I sucked it up and went back to my little spare room. Just as Téa had told me, Yugi was sitting on the bed, waiting for me. Wow, that sounds bad out of context. Anyway, I saw him look up when I approached. I examined his face. He didn't look at all different from the Yugi I knew, but somehow, I knew it wasn't him. It was the way he sat with his back as straight as a board. The violet eyes that stared into my own had such an intensity that I would never associate with the very pure Yugi.

"A-are you Yami?" I aksed him meekly, shutting the door only so I could lean against it. I noted that his fingers were interlaced over his knee, unlike Yugi, whose hands were constantly messing with his puzzle's chain.

I saw the boy nod. "I am." It was strange to hear him speak for the first time. I knew he was Yami, but he sounded so much like Yugi. I knew they were both voiced by Dan Green, but you'd think there would be distinct differences between their voices. Maybe I was just hearing what everyone else in this universe heard when Yami spoke. Most people couldn't tell the difference between Yugi and Yami and the same was going to happen to me if I let my guard down around them… or him… or… Whatever.

"I'm sorry," I squeaked, looking down at my feet nervously. "I lied to you…"

"I know," he replied calmly.

"Yeah, Téa told you… right."

"No," he said. "I've known the whole time."

I raised my head abruptly, hurting my neck in the process. "What do you mean?" _Ouch._ Well, at least my aching neck could help me take my mind off of my nerves… Nah, probably not.

I saw his eyes light up in amusement. Well, at least someone was enjoying himself. "You're a terrible liar."

I sighed and moved towards the bed, deciding to give in and sit beside him. He didn't look like he was going to mind crush me anytime soon, so that was good. "I kinda saw that coming," I replied to his statement. It was true. I couldn't lie for shit, which was half of the reason why it made me so anxious. Conversely, it was probably my anxiety that made me a bad liar to begin with.

"However, I also knew from the moment I saw you that your arrival wasn't an accident," he said.

"Huh?"

"Your aura," he replied simply. "Yugi cannot sense it, but I can." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. _Great! I have an aura, too?_ "You don't mean Yugi any harm," he stated.

"N-no, of course not!" I replied. "I'm supposed to help you. I don't know how yet, but a mysterious voice told me to…" I trailed off. It didn't sound very convincing when I said it out loud, but if I couldn't trust good ol' Voice, who could I trust?

Yami nodded silently. Perfect. Another awkward silence. I glanced over at Yami. He seemed deep in thought. His gaze was pointed at a random spot on the floor and his legs were now crossed. I didn't want to interrupt his thoughts so I turned my gaze away from him and began to twiddle my fingers in my lap.

"Y-Yami?" I decided to call out as the silence was grating on my nerves. He looked up at me and my heart skipped a beat. Another thing to add to the list of things that I would need to get used to around here was Yami's intense stare. _Maybe I can get him to stop that when I become his friend._ "You'll help me find out my purpose, right?" I asked, trying not to flinch away from his gaze.

I saw him spare me a smile. "Yes, I will, but you must do something for me in return." I was taken aback. What could I possibly do for someone like the Pharaoh? "Can you tell me about my past? Just… who was I?" I guess Téa had told him about the taboo thing as well. Well, it's not like I expected her to keep it a secret.

I wondered silently whether or not I was actually allowed to tell him things. How would telling Yami about his past change the course of events? His entire plotline was hinged on this knowledge. Could I really just tell him? I also wasn't completely sure about who he was either. All I knew was that he was an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh who saved the world three thousand years ago, and Yami probably knew all that at this point. I had stopped watching the show around the beginning of the fourth season so I knew nothing.

After a moment's worth of contemplation, I finally told him. "I'm sorry, Yami. I don't really know any more than you do." Yami nodded without saying a word. "I wish I did," I added. "I know how badly you want to know about your past, but I promise that you will find out who you are."

"Thank you, Lorna," he said, getting up from the bed. _He means "Thank you for nothing"_ He held his hand out for me. "Let's get back to the others." With a slight nod, I took his hand.

"Téa won't tell Joey and Tristan that they're characters, right?" I asked. I mean, it seemed sort of cruel to tell someone they didn't exist.

Yami smiled at me. "Are we characters?"

"W-Well, you are… in my world…" I sputtered, unsure of what he was implying.

He chuckled. "Exactly, Lorna. I don't know how dimensional travel works, but I know one thing for sure. Reality is subjective. What may seem real to us may seem like a fantasy to you. However," –he tightened his grip on my hand and I couldn't stop my cheeks from heating up –"what you make of this situation right now is up to you. Does it seem like reality to you?"

Hastily I nodded. "It does."

"Think of it this way," he added. "We could be the very same characters you saw in your world, or those characters could simply be a representation of a reality that exists parallel to your own."

"How do I know which one it is?" I asked, trying to think of a subtle way to ease his hold on my hand.

"You don't," he replied simply, finally releasing my hand and giving me a mysterious smile before handing control over to Yugi. I watched the fierce eyes fade, yet, their effect was still there and I couldn't get his words out of my head.

* * *

**_Ugh I know, this chapter wasn't funny at all... but I do have an obligation to show you ALL sides of my protagonist, even her sad and wimpy ones. As always, feedback is appreciated!_**


	6. Girls, Girls, Girls

**_I've been writing a lot lately, so I figured I'd update more often. This chapter is lighthearted... for the most part._**

* * *

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

I groaned and rubbed my eyes. Up until a couple of minutes ago, I was sound asleep in my room. I had no idea what time it was since I didn't have a clock in my room and even if I did, my room was in complete and utter darkness. Needless to say, I didn't quite appreciate the knocking.

After tossing and turning for a good five minutes, I heard a voice call out from behind the door. "Lorna, dear?"

"Not now, mom," I grumbled and rolled over to hold my pillow close to me.

"Téa's here to see you, sweetie!" Oh, right. Not my mom.

"Hm?" I mumbled and tried to raise my head while maintaining as much contact as possible between my body and the pillow. Unfortunately, that resulted in me losing balance. My breath caught in my throat as I braced myself for the impact, and _man_ was I impacted.

"Are you okay in there?" Téa's voice chimed from the other side of the door.

I winced and tried to sit up. Nothing really _felt_ broken so I must have been okay. I let out a strained "Yeah" and attempted to get to my feet. I was so drowsy and out of balance. I stuck out my hands, searching for the closet to hold on to in the pitch black room.

"Can I come in?" my friend asked. She sounded a bit worried. I suppose I couldn't blame her.

"Uh, sure thing!" I called back. "And turn on the light on your way in. I think I've just turned blind!"

No sooner had I spoken than I saw light flood into the room and Téa walk in. I grinned sheepishly at the expression on her face as she laid eyes on me. My hair was poking out in all directions (Yugi would be proud) and my pyjama shirt was half tucked into my pants, the untucked parts sticking out in a fashion to rival my own hair. I didn't even want to _think _about what my face must have looked like. I waved my hand in greeting to her.

"Hi," she said, after she had stopped gaping.

"What time is it?" I asked drowsily.

"It's ten in the morning," Téa replied. "I didn't mean to wake you. I sorta expected you to be awake already…"

"Yeah… no, it's no problem," I assured her, stifling a yawn. "Where's Yugi?" And why was she here to see me and not him?

To my surprise, she shrugged. "I don't really know where he is right now. He said he was going to hang out with Joey and Tristan. So I thought it would be a good idea to go out together; y'know just us girls!"

I smiled. "Can I get dressed first?"

"Y-Yeah! Don't take too long though. You're not gonna be wearing it for long!" She exited the room and closed the door behind her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I called out through the door.

"We're going shopping! Duh!" The muffled reply sounded through the door.

I sighed. Could I even afford to go shopping? I mean, I wasn't Seto Kaiba. My money didn't grow on trees; I earned it little by little as I helped out in the shop, which I had been doing for a grand total of one day. Deciding to dwell on that later, I got dressed in a pair of jeans and a blouse, both of which I got from Yugi's mother. I guess I did need a bit of a wardrobe change.

When Téa and I went down to the front door, we found Mrs. Muto standing with her purse clutched in both hands and a giant smile on her face. "Are you girls ready to go?"

Both of us nodded. "Are you coming with us, Mrs. M?" I asked her.

She nodded. "I'm your ride," she informed me. "As well as your wallet!"

"O-Oh, right…" I murmured. Right. I was broke. "I promise I'll pay you back for everything" I began to say, but she shook her head and interrupted me.

"Don't worry about it! I've always wanted a daughter, but my husband is always busy with his business trips so I've only got Yugi," she told me. "But this is my chance! So I'm going to buy you all the cute things I wanted to buy my own daughter!"

I glanced at Téa as if to say, "Is her taste any good?" The other girl understood me and gave me an unsure grimace. Thankfully, the exchange went unnoticed by Mrs. Muto.

"Téa was my first daughter," the older woman continued. "But she never let me buy her cute things." She pouted. Wait. Was she trying to guilt trip me? "You're all I have Lorna! So I'm going to dress you in cute clothes and buy you ice cream!" She clung onto my arm. She _was_ trying to guilt trip me! There was no way in _hell_ I was going to dress up in cute clothes. I already _looked_ like a prepubescent girl. I didn't need to dress like one too.

I saw Téa give me a look. _Just go with it._ I supposed I would have to trust her on this one. After all, if she was able to escape Mrs. Muto's obsession with cute clothes, then perhaps I could as well. I nodded hesitantly and the three of us made our way to Mrs. Muto's car.

#

Our first stop was a quaint diner that was just a few blocks away from the Muto residence. There weren't many people there and that usually made me feel a bit uncomfortable, but I tried really hard to ignore it and enjoy the food.

I ordered a large stack of pancakes with whipped cream. Whipped cream was my weakness so I ordered a little extra of that. Mrs. M and Téa ordered their pancakes with fruit and made me feel like the least healthy person in the universe. It wasn't like I particularly cared, but I couldn't help but feel a bit out of place. Still, given the option, who _wouldn't _put truckloads of whipped cream onto their pancakes. I mean, I don't know about you guys, but back at home, having pancakes without whipped cream was considered a _sin_. It just wasn't done, you know?

I watched as a waitress put down a large glass of milk in front of me. I glanced up at my companions. Mrs. M nodded at me, revealing herself as the one who bought it for me. I sighed and took a sip. I needed coffee, though. Lots of it. I probably should have spoken up earlier, but I was still sort of drowsy from that morning.

"Make sure to drink up all of your milk!" Mrs. Muto told me sternly.

I raised the glass to my lips and took another sip. "Um, okay."

She watched me like a hawk as I did so. I gave the younger girl a glance. She put a hand to her lips to stifle a giggle. Well, she definitely had no intention of being useful. I looked back at my food and tried to eat without meeting Mrs. M's watchful stare. What was she staring at? I mean, she really was a nice lady, but this was getting kinda creepy.

Finally, I looked back up at Yugi's mother and asked, "Mrs. M, was there something you wanted to tell me?"

She wasn't surprised by the question. It rather felt like she had been waiting for it as she answered very quickly. "Did your parents feed you?"

"Eh?" I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah," I told her uncertainly.

"But you're so small!" she insisted.

I held in a sigh. I think every mother in the world has told me the exact same thing upon meeting me. I wasn't _that _small. "Yeah, I am… But I make up for it in spunk?" I replied, trying to reassure her. "Plus, I'm not particularly thin either so you don't have to worry about me not eating enough."

She mused for a moment. "Well, under _my _roof, I'll make sure you drink tons of milk. Then maybe when you grow up you can be as tall as Téa here!" she told me cheerfully.

_Oh, no._ She thought I was a middle-schooler. Classic mistake. "Grow up?" I took a sip of milk. "I'm turning eighteen in a couple of months, Mrs. M. I'm pretty grown up."

Téa, who had been silently eating her strawberries, finally spoke up. "You're a senior?" She sounded incredibly surprised. "That makes you older than all of us!"

I giggled and stuck my tongue out. "Indeed it does!"

"B-But how are you so tiny?" It was Téa's turn to be worried about my non-existent teenage growth spurt. Honestly, it was no big deal. Plus, Yugi was only two inches taller than me. For a guy, he wasn't really better off than I was! Perhaps their worrying was misplaced.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine, guys. Really. Being short has its benefits sometimes."

"Like what?" she asked.

I smirked. "Well, for one. I attract pedophiles." Upon seeing the shocked expressions on both Téa and Mrs. Muto's faces, I realized that perhaps that wasn't exactly the right thing to say. "I'm joking…" I told them. "It was a _joke_. I don't really attract pedophiles… You can stop giving me that look that says you're about to hire bodyguards."

"O-Oh…" Téa sputtered, "Y-Yeah, I knew that."

"Bad joke?" I smiled guiltily.

She scoffed. "You think?" Then she let out an airy laugh. "Anyway, we should get going! It's almost eleven and we need to hit the shops!"

#

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Domino City had an outdoor mall. It was actually pretty nice. There were potted plants everywhere and since it was still spring, there was a lovely breeze carrying the scent of flowers and grass with it. "It sure is pretty here," I commented as the three of us walked through the strip.

Mrs. Muto nodded. "Don't you have shopping strips like this back in your world?" Oh, and I made sure Yugi told his mother and grandfather about where I came from so I wouldn't have to. He told me that I should have informed them myself, but he did what I asked anyway and I was thankful for that. It still baffled me how nice these people were being, considering I lied to them and was now mooching off of them.

"We do have them," I replied. "I just don't go to them that often. They're really far away and it's easier to just go to an indoor mall."

"Well, indoor malls are good for rainy days!" she said. I think she was trying to make me feel better about having to no outdoor shopping strips near my home. However, I didn't really care much for malls or shopping. I liked having new clothes and dressing nicely, I just hated going to the effort of actually hauling my ass over to a mall and going through the immense mental pressure of actually picking something nice to buy.

"Oh!" Téa exclaimed. "There it is!" She pulled on my hand and Mrs. Muto's hand and dragged us over to a shop which looked suspiciously familiar, but I guess in a world that was allegedly based off of my own, there was no need to be surprised. As that thought crossed my mind, I remembered what Yami had told me the previous night. What if he was right? Maybe all those awkward shout-outs to brands in my world were simply representations of my reality placed in theirs. Just like how Yu-Gi-Oh represented this reality where I was currently shopping with Téa and Yugi's mother. I could barely make sense of it. This was some mindfuck I was in.

_Lorna..._

Speaking of mindfuck... I stopped in my tracks and looked around for the source of the voice, turning my head to glance at the clusters of people walking past us in the shopping strip. I sighed._ Not right now, Voice._ I'm taken out of my trance abruptly when I feel something bump into my legs. I glance down and see a young doe-eyed girl, clinging to my pant leg, her tiny fingers trailing over the fabric. She grinned at me, revealing a mouthful of baby teeth. She couldn't have been more than three years old, if not younger.

"Hey, there..." I said, crouching down to meet her gaze. "Are you lost?" I asked. There was something about this girl. I knew her... somehow.

She scrunched her nose and giggled before releasing her hold on my jeans and running off, a long dark braid trailing behind her as she did. _What?_

I sprinted after her on a whim. Did she want me to follow her?

The girl turned around, nodding curtly upon seeing that I was in fact following her, then she continued on into the street. _Oh, God. Don't do that, little girl! Streets are bad!_

"Don't go there!" I screamed at her. "It's dangerous! Come back here!" It seemed like it couldn't hear me. _Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God! NO! NO! NO!_ I could feel my heart speed up as I tried as hard as I could to catch up. I knew I shouldn't have missed gym class! Why was she just _standing_ there? _Move! PLEASE, JUST MOVE!_

I was standing on the side walk, urging the girl to move when I saw it, an insanely large bus, the kind that carried people across states. I knew there was no time to think. I leaped into the road, screaming, "GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

It was as though time had stopped. I couldn't move my legs anymore and the little girl was still standing innocently without a care in the world. She wouldn't move. She couldn't even see the bus that was blazing towards her at forty miles per hour, completely oblivious to the little girl.

I saw her turn towards me. She opened her mouth in a laugh and raised her arm to wave at me. _No. No. No. _I tried my hardest to thaw my legs and move.

_BAM._

_NO!_

"Lorna?"

I gasped as the gruesome scene disappeared and I was still standing in between Mrs. Muto and Téa. There was no little girl anywhere. I was just...

I felt disgruntled as my mind tried to make sense of what I had just seen. I had just seen a little girl... A bus had just rammed into a little girl. Where was the bus? Where was the little girl? I _wasn't _hallucinating that, right?

"Are you alright, darling?" Mrs. Muto asked gently, trailing one of her hands absentmindedly through my hair in a calming manner.

"I... " I paused. "It's nothing... I just thought I remembered something... but I didn't." I was pretty sure Téa was suspicious, but she didn't press me for any more. She decided to continue tugging me and Mrs. Muto towards the shop she had been eying earlier. I didn't know what to say. I couldn't explain what I saw. All I knew, was that girl was familiar and as I tugged at my hair anxiously, I felt her identity slowly slip into my consciousness.

She was from my world.

I shook the thought from my mind. This was probably just a side-effect of effectively being _dead to the world_ and being transported to a whole other dimension. Still... I saw that _little girl dying_. That wasn't your average everyday homesick hallucination. I ran a hand though my hair and decided not to think about it... No, I was going to have fun with Téa and Mrs. Muto and I wasn't going to let anyone interfere with that, not even imaginary dead girls.

Within minutes of stepping into the shop, Téa had assembled a pile of clothes and was shoving me inside of a changing room. _Man_, that girl worked fast! I searched around the room for that tiny stool they sometimes put in dressing rooms so I could put the heavy pile in my hands down. Well, this was going to be the start of a _long_ day.

As I tried things on, I realized two things: one, Téa had really good taste; and two, she was _really_ good at estimating sizes. How the heck did she know my sizes? It almost felt like one of those movie montages where they dress the protagonist in the most ridiculous things and then, at the end, everyone suddenly becomes fashion aware and the protagonist ends up wearing something decent. Only this was much more tedious than the montages made it seem.

Once I was back in my original outfit, Téa and I began to sort through the clothes and pick which things we wanted and which things we didn't want. I relied mostly on my friend's intuition with fashion since I tended to dress in the strangest things when left to my own devices. Back in my own world, I usually had my mother approve or disapprove of my clothing before I left the house. It kind of felt strange to think of my mother at that moment. I had only been away from her for two days and yet it felt like it had been weeks. I used to go shopping with her all the time since she didn't trust me to go shopping with friends.

As Téa and I were finishing up the sorting, Mrs. Muto ran up to us with yet another pile of clothes nestled in her arms. "Wait, you two! I have some things for Lorna to try on, too!"

I turned over to Téa. She shrugged and grinned. "It could be fun," she told me quietly.

I scoffed. "Yeah. For _you_." She didn't reply to that. She simply giggled.

After a few minutes, I emerged from the dressing room in a frilly mini-dress with a corset and long stockings. I looked like a Lolita doll. I watched Téa burst out laughing. I sighed. There was nothing that would make this moment dignified. Nothing. I walked over to the full-length mirror and looked at myself.

_Well, looks like you finally made it, Lorna. You finally look like a full blown Sue. _I rolled my eyes at the thought. To be a _real_ Sue, I probably still needed to be a foot taller –some liposuction and a face implant wouldn't hurt either.

I rushed back inside to change into… I pulled the piece of clothing up in front of my face. Was that a leotard? No. _No. _I dug into the pile again to pull out the next outfit. _W-Was that… a maid outfit?_ I think my eyes nearly popped out of my sockets. Well, I wasn't going to try _that _on either. However, I promised Mrs. M that I would try on at least two things. I sighed and looked through the pile once more.

"Are you alive in there?" That was Téa. I bet she was looking forward to this.

I had no idea where Mrs. Muto found all of these clothes, but I knew for certain that none of them were practical. I wasn't even sure why she brought me what looked like a playboy bunny costume because there was no way I was going to _touch_ that. After realizing that the most appropriate thing to wear was the revealing maid outfit, I decided there was no harm in putting it on for a minute then taking it off. Though I wondered whether or not the garter belts were _really _necessary…

I came out of the room nervously after opting to leave out the garter belts. I attempted some semblance of a curtsy. "Um, is this okay?"

Mrs. Muto gave me a once over then said, "You forgot the garter belts, silly!" She pushed me back inside.

"Ah, yeah…" I mumbled. I couldn't hear Téa sniggering, but I could feel it in my bones. One day, I would pay her back for making me endure this.

After putting the costume on correctly this time, I stepped in front of my two companions, staring at my feet in shame. I hoped that I would never have to go through this again. It was just too mortifying.

I watched in horror as Mrs. Muto's innocent face turned rabid. "You look so cute!" she squealed and pulled me into a tight hug, almost severing my head in the process. "I just want to wrap you in a bow and put you on my shelf!" She let out another incoherent squeal as she buzzed around me, twirling me around to get the full effect. I had never been more embarrassed in my life.

An unfamiliar squeal made its way to my ears as I found another pair of eyes ogling me. A girl I didn't recognize ran up to me with a starstruck expression on her face. She seemed to be one of the shop helpers. "She's adorable! I want to take her home!" Eh? Take me home? Nobody was taking me home! Not if I had anything to say about it!

I tried twisting myself to meet Téa's eyes. "Help!" I mouthed, trying to untangle myself from the women who were groping and clawing at me. Unfortunately for me, she was giggling madly and obviously wasn't going to rescue me anytime soon. Oh, I was _so_ going to get back at her for this someday.

Realzing it was hopeless, I opted for a more forceful tactic. "Alright, ladies! That's quite enough! I need to get changed." I ducked out of their grasp and went back to the changing room.

"You definitely need to buy that!" I heard the shopkeep tell Mrs. Muto._ No, she definitely didn't._

* * *

**_Dear Yu-Gi-Oh fandom,_**

**_I'm so sorry I turned Yugi's mother into Ryugu Rena from Higurashi. But she won't be going around killing people with a cleaver anytime soon... most likely._**


	7. Terra I

**_Hey, so here's some plot. Have fun ;D_**

* * *

"The usual?" a waiter asks the only customer at the cafe where he works.

The customer, a tall woman with neat black hair that falls to her shoulders and ruby red lips, nods. She places one of her manicured hands on the table and begins to absentmindedly spin the salt shaker as she waits. She knows she doesn't have to wait long as she is the only person who comes to that cafe this early after all. It is around five in the morning and she has to be at work in a couple of hours.

The man comes back to her in around five minutes, a double shot espresso in one hand and a small plate with a croissant on it. He sets both down on the table and gives the woman a warm smile before going back to the cashier's desk to chat with the pretty girl who shares his shift.

The woman knows better than to touch the burning hot espresso and starts off with her croissant first. She eats it slowly, pushing her fork into the delicate crust and taking small bites. She's in no rush to finish.

"Joey!"

She winces. It was way too early for pesky kids to be out and about, however, when she glances through the window, she sees two girls standing in the middle of the street. One of them, the taller one, has short auburn hair while the second has darker hair pulled back in double ponytails. They're yelling at the top of their lungs. "JOEY!" They seem to be searching for that Joey boy.

The _ring_ signaling a new customer causes her to stop staring at the teenagers. She turns back to her food only to find a hooded figure sitting before her. She narrows her eyes at this new arrival.

"What do you want this time?" she asks, not even trying to hide her irritation.

The figure doesn't even bother speaking. They pull out a school bag, plain and olive colored, from the ground beside them and heave it on the table. It looks really heavy. The figure then extends their hand towards the window and points a long bony finger at the girls that the woman had been staring at just moments ago.

From afar, the cashier girl and the young waiter watch the strange scene. That woman usually comes into the cafe alone. They can tell that the woman and the figure are acquaintances, but how would such a normal-looking woman know such a strange person. They watch her writing something in a notepad furiously as the figure makes rushed movements as though relaying important information, however the two observers cannot hear a thing. They can't even tell if the cloaked person is a man or a woman.

"Why do you think that person is dressed like that?" the girl asks her companion in a hushed whisper.

He shrugs and averts his gaze, trying not to stare. Though, the woman and the mysterious person were too engrossed in their conversation to notice the staring and even if they did, he doubted it would matter to them. "Do you think they're in a cult or something?" he asks the girl; the idea scares him but also somehow intrigues him.

The girl doesn't have an answer to that and the two of them don't speak again for several minutes as they watch the two older people converse. The woman, who they figure is some sort of business woman judging by her clothing, pulls black linen from her oversized designer handbag. It looks incredibly suspicious.

The girl and boy are surprised when the figure turns to gaze at them and although they can't see a face, this gaze paralyzes them. Just what kind of person is that? They watch as a pale finger is raised to where the person's lips would be if there were lips there to begin with. Their breath hitches and the two of them nod hurriedly as the figure stands up. The woman doesn't see this exchange, too engrossed by her notes.

Before the waiter can realize that he had forgotten to ask the strange customer for his or her order, the figure was gone. Suddenly, he can breathe easily. He glances at the cashier and sees a relief on her face as well.

The woman is oblivious to her surroundings as she downs her espresso and digs into her croissant as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened; still, she keeps glancing through the window beside her, chewing her breakfast with a hint of impatience. After drinking the last of her coffee and stuffing the last bite of her croissant into her mouth, she pulls out her wallet and places a couple of bills on the table. The waiter rushes over to take her payment and give her the change.

"Keep the change," she hisses at him a bit too harshly as she throws the dark cloak, which she had taken out of her bag earlier, over her. She covers her face and grabs her handbag and the backpack before rushing through the front door.

With a worried expression on her face, Lorna lets out another yell. "Joey! Where are you?"

He has been missing since last night. He was supposed to see his sister at the hospital before her eye operation, but he never came. It isn't like Joey to blow off something this important so she and her friends know that something has gone terribly wrong. She casts an anxious glance at Téa and says, "I think we need to search somewhere else. He's not here."

Téa looks at her and nods. "Yeah, you're right..."

As the two girls make their way towards Mrs. Muto's car, Lorna feels someone tug her shoulder roughly. She turns around, alarmed and confused. "What?"

She sees the face of a young woman with piercing green eyes framed by a dark hood. "Lorna," the hooded woman utters in a soft voice like velvet and shoves something very heavy into Lorna's hands.

Lorna holds up the object she had just been handed and looks it over, and as her dazed eyes, still recovering from hours of searching, glide over it, she gasps in remembrance. "Wait!" she calls out to the woman who is swiftly retreating, however, her luck hasn't improved at all since she tripped down a flight of stairs just a couple of days prior and the mysterious woman doesn't pay attention to the young girl's plea.

"Who was that?" Téa asks, watching the woman disappear.

The smaller girl shrugs. "I don't know, but" -she holds up the bag the woman had just given her- "this is my school bag."

Téa's eyes widen. She doesn't need to voice her surprise because she is sure that Lorna already knows how strange it is that something like this would find its way from her original world to this world; it is strange enough that Lorna herself is here.

#

"Good morning, Miss Kwon!" the sunny receptionist at the KaibaCorp building greets with a large grin.

Miss Kwon smiles in acknowledgment at the at the girl whose name she has forgotten. With long, quick strides, she makes her way to the elevator and steps inside, presses the button to her floor just as she does so. There are research floors in KaibaCorp and there are office floors in KaibaCorp. Miss Kwon in particular works in one of the latter as one of the select people entrusted to maintain the massive KaibaCorp databases. Her job is especially important now that there are only two days left for Battle City Tournament.

"Hey, Sun!" A man steps into the elevator with her just before she closes the door. He works on a different floor but he's one of those people who are friends with everyone. "I heard you got the Battle City job! Way to go!"

Sun nods. "Thanks. I can't thank Mr. Kaiba enough for the opportunity!"

"And the raise, too!" he adds enthusiastically and laughs.

She spares him another smile before dismissing him. "This is my floor." She steps out of the elevator, leaving the hearty man grinning to himself. What a fool. She scowls. She hates him. She hates the cheery receptionist as well. It's not like that clumsy idiot of a girl serves any purpose other than to look pretty for the people who step into the KaibaCorp offices. She scoffs at the high and mighty Mr. Kaiba who appointed her.

Miss Kwon makes her way over to a large metallic door, which is the main obstacle between intruders and KaibaCorp's databases, and takes an ID card out of her purse, a great feat, considering how large and cluttered it is, and scans it through the scanning device beside the door. A smaller scanner emerges from a compartment just above the card reader and like an eager child, raises itself to Miss Kwon's eye level and begins to scan her retinas. Once it is satisfied, it goes back to its compartment with an affirmative _ding_.

"Welcome, Sun Kwon," a feminine robotic voice greets as the door opens for the woman.

Sun is pleased to realize that she is the first to arrive. She is always the first to arrive anyway. She makes sure of it. She steps into the large office. It's spacious so she has to at least give Mr. Kaiba props for that. He may be a stupid child, but he sure knows how to treat his employees.

Her desk is situated at the back of the room. She had specifically asked for that spot and seeing as nobody else particularly wanted to sit there, it was given to her. She goes over to her computer and as she sits down, it automatically starts up. _Mr. Kaiba and his technology... _she thinks with a smirk typing in her password and gaining access. The first thing she does is open the database and insert a new duelist record.

**Name: **Lorna Beck

**Gender: **Female

**DoB: **8 – 23 – 1995

**Deck Type: **Light/Fairy

**Rarest Card: **Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin

**Tournaments: **None

**Rank: *** * * *

* * *

**_Well, I was reluctant about that last part, since up until just now, Lorna's deck hasn't been set in stone. Though, now it is. Not completely set in stone, but for now it is. I was originally going to make her rarest card a stronger monster than Neo-Parshath, but I decided against it, besides, Neo-Parshath is a badass. She can have a stronger monster later when she deserves it._**


	8. Pre-Battle City Jitters

_**I was a bit reluctant to post this chapter. Erm... you'll probably see why later.**_

* * *

"A duel disk?" Joey asked as Yugi's group stood around me.

The day before was just crazy. Joey was supposed to see Serenity in the hospital, but he was mugged by Rare Hunters and had his _Red-Eyes_ taken. You know, you'd think I would have warned him about that happening seeing as I actually fucking watched that part of the series. I was such a dumbass protagonist, I swear!

Joey's mother called Yugi's mom in hysterics. Apparently, Serenity was having a tantrum and wouldn't leave her hospital room or let anyone see her because Joey wasn't there yet. Knowing Joey, he wasn't the type to just _bail_ on his sister so naturally, the gang and I went looking for him. On one of our stops though, a strange lady came up to me and gave me a bag. The thing is, it was my backpack, which I was pretty sure was supposed to be at home, in my dimension, where I was braindead.

And that's what you missed on Glee!

At the moment, we were checking the contents of the bag. It had most of the stuff that had been in it when I left for school in the morning a couple of days ago. You know... Books, laptop, phone, ipod, pencils... All that jazz. However, we also found a box inside for a duel disk and I was certain that it had been planted there, but by who? That weird lady in the black cloak? Was she some kind of rare hunter or something? What would the rare hunters want with someone like _me_? And if she wasn't a rare hunter, who was she?

"I think they want you to use it," Tristan remarked intuitively. _Gee, thanks for that. I never would have guessed otherwise._

I sighed and picked up the box. "Yeah, but who's '_they_'?" Nobody answered that. "Do they expect me to be a finalist? Because I wouldn't be too optimistic if I were them." I looked behind me to see four people open their mouths to deny what I had just said, looking like they had just seen their almighty deity bashed right before their eyes. I rolled my eyes. "Guys, save it." All four open mouths slowly closed again.

"Hey," Joey finally said, "we'll be with you every step of the way. Just do your best, alright?"

Feeling a fluttery feeling in my stomach, I nodded slightly. "Yeah."

"Besides! With the great Joey Wheeler rooting for ya, you _know_ luck's gonna be on your side!" he proclaimed, slapping his hand down on my shoulder and grinning while I tried to soothe the pain that had come from Joey nearly dislocating my shoulder. _Asshole._ And with that thought, I couldn't help but return the gesture with an elbow to the gut and a smile of my own.

"Thanks, Joey."

"Battle City starts tomorrow!" Tristan reminded us. "You oughta have Joey and Yugi help you get ready! They're pros!"

I giggled. "I already know that, Tristan, but that is a good idea."

Yugi nodded. "I'll get grandpa to help, too! He taught me everything I know!"

"With everyone helping you out, you're definitely gonna get those six locator cards." Tristan beamed at me. I nodded, feeling a bit uncertain, but smiling back at him nonetheless, however I couldn't help but think about how exactly I would fit into the Battle City finalists. In my opinion, each of the canon contestants was entirely necessary to the plot. It's not like I could take any of their places. Yugi, Marik, Kaiba and Odion needed to be there for obvious reasons. Joey was _Joey_, so he definitely needed to be in the finals. Ishizu was Marik's sister and the whole reason the tournament was started. Bakura was in cahoots with Marik so that meant he was a necessary finalist. And I wasn't taking Mai's place unless I wanted a one way ticket to the shadow realm. I somehow doubted that the Voice wanted me to end up _there_.

#

When Grandpa found out I was competing in the Battle City tournament, he was excited to say the least. He honestly couldn't believe that _three_ of his prodigies were competing. Ha! If you could call me a prodigy, that is... We spent the whole evening dueling and by the time we were done, I was completely spent. Who knew card games could be so tiring? I sure didn't. It was also _incredibly_ boring if you spent hours doing it _over and over again, _but it was still worth it since I was much more familiar with my deck and my strategies when it was all over.

"You've definitely improved these past couple of days," Yugi reassured me as I lay on my bed, rubbing my sore eyes.

"Thanks," I murmured weakly. I hadn't been this tired since I fell into a coma that one time.

"No problem..." Yugi was silent for a while after that. He seemed to be deep in thought.

I heaved myself up into a sitting position, startling Yugi, who was sitting at the edge of the bed. "You have something you want to talk about, don't you, Yugi." _I_ had something I wanted to talk about too, namely that little girl I saw in the street when I went out with Téa and hi_s_ mother the other day, but his problems were probably much more important than mine, taking into consideration the fact that he shared his body with a _three thousand year old pharaoh_ that lived in a puzzle that he hung around his neck.

"Huh? N-Not really," he replied.

For a moment, I thought about backing down and letting it go, but this was Yugi. He was definitely worried about something. "Tell me," I said, crawling across the bed to sit beside him.

He glanced at me as I came over. He sighed and looked down. "Well, I guess you already know everything." I nodded. "It's just about what Ishizu told me at the museum."

I shifted into a comfortable sitting position before speaking. "You're scared because you don't know what you're up against, right?"

I saw him nod. "I'm scared because I don't know what to expect..." He paused for a bit then spoke again. "You know about Duelist Kingdom... right?"

"Yeah, I do," I replied.

"Pegasus took people's souls," he said in spite of it being information that I already knew. "Isn't that messed up, Lorna?"

I wasn't quite sure what sort of point he was trying to make, but I agreed with him because he was clearly worried about something. "Pegasus was a messed up guy..." I paused to think of the right thing to say. "You got through it though, didn't you? You had your friends with you. You had Yami backing you up the whole time. You kicked ass, Yugi."

I saw a flicker of a smile on his face. I guess that wasn't what he needed reassurance for. "What we're going to face now... It's going to be much worse than Pegasus, isn't it?"

I wanted to tell him that everything would work out and that everything would be easy, but I knew that was bullshit. Marik was ten times worse than Pegasus and when he turned into Yami Marik, he was worse still. I didn't know much about what Yami Marik fangirls saw, but that guy was fucked up. "I'm not going to lie to you, Yugi. This guy isn't going to be easy to face."

"Can you tell me about him?" he asked.

I sighed and looked up thoughtfully. "Well," I started. _He's going to put you through hell._ Like I could actually tell him something like that. "He's got a millennium item, and he's going to hide behind it until the Battle City finals." I wasn't sure if revealing Marik's plan would hurt or help the guys. What if Marik resorted to a much worse "Plan B" upon realizing that his "Plan A" was foiled. What if he sent me to the shadow realm or something because I messed with him? Wait. You had to duel people to send them to the shadow realm... Well, me and my brand spankin' new duel disk were _definitely_ not going within dueling distance of that guy _ever._

Yugi didn't seem satisfied. I couldn't blame him. I gave him the most bullshit answer yet. "Can't you say more?" he pleaded.

"Well..." I bit my lip and tried to look him in the eye, but I couldn't. He really wanted to know as much as he could, and I was letting him down. "I don't know how the information I'm telling you could change your future..." I said. "And I know that you and the Pharaoh do defeat this guy. I don't want to risk changing that. So can you just trust me on this one?"

I watched the expression on his face calm down slightly. He nodded. "I trust you, Lorna. If you say that we're going to get through this, then we will. I know it won't be easy... but I'll give it my all!"

"And we'll all stand behind you, Yugi," I told him, giving him a warm smile. I let one of my fingers trace over the edge of the millennium puzzle. "You too, Yami."

"Thank you," Yugi said, smiling. Or was it Yami? I couldn't tell.

"We should get our sleep, Yugi," I reminded him. "We need to have our wits about us for tomorrow if we're gonna make it to the finals. And you especially have a big day."

"Oh, yeah!" he said as though he had truly forgotten about sleep and honestly, I couldn't say I blamed him. How could he sleep when he knew a raving lunatic worse than Pegasus was going to be wandering around Battle City? How could _I _sleep with all knowing that someone _wanted_ me to duel in Battle City tournament -knowing that someone was_ expecting me_ to duel? He got to his feet quickly.

"Wait, Yugi!"I called out before he could make it to the door. I jumped to my feet and ran up to him, pulling him into a bear hug. You could say that I was a bit on the touchy-feely side despite being more than hesitant to admit to being someone's friend and I often wondered what that said about me... "Sleep well, okay? And good luck tomorrow."

He stiffened when he felt me against him, but only for a split second because he swiftly returned the hug. "Thanks. I will. And good luck to you too," he said against my shoulder.

I pulled away from him and gave him a sheepish grin before pushing him roughly out of my room. "Now, get to sleep!" _Lord knows you need it..._

I sighed and returned to my bed as soon as the door was shut, flopping on top and trying to dull the headache that was was beginning to descend from my temples to the back of my neck. My bed felt so hard and my chest hurt like hell, ignoring the pain, I shut my eyes even tighter and tried to go to sleep; after all, I was just tired and I would feel better if I got some sleep.

"Lorna..."

It was lower than a whisper and raspy like sandpaper on a carpet. I winced and moved my hands up to my ears, crying out weakly when they refused to move and sent a searing pain shooting through my shoulders. It was so difficult to breathe... What was the matter? I opened my eyes to find the reason why my arms weren't moving, only to have a bright light impairing my vision and making my headache even worse than it had been before.

I wasn't in my room, was I?

As my eyes adjusted to the light, my body became more aware of where I was and the pain in my arms and chest became much more difficult to shrug off and my breath became more ragged and labored. The surface beneath me felt so cold and hard that I doubted I was even on a bed to begin with. I tried letting out a sigh. _Not this shit again..._

There was a large glass door right in front of my face which seemed to lead to the outside of wherever I was, but what unnerved me about that glass door was the fact that the "outside" that it led to was awfully familiar. I had walked in that street and tossed my gum in one of those potted plants. I chuckled, or at least, I attempted to chuckle. I knew this was a dream. I couldn't be in Domino City or with Yugi and Téa. Yu-Gi-Oh didn't exist. This was all a strangely long hallucination that I suffered for some reason and now I was minutes away from death. _Real _death. I thought boring people like me didn't die young...

Speaking of death, what _was_ that pain in my chest? And that _smell_? There was a repugnant scent in the air; something like burnt meat and rotten eggs filled my nostrils and made its way to my lungs. I couldn't cough, though; it hurt too much...

I heard the shuffling of feet and a strangled cry, instantly making me feel relieved. Someone was here to get me to a hospital...

My heart began to flutter and before I could call out to whoever it was that had come for me, I found myself in a completely different part of the entrance of my apartment building, with my back against a wall, elevated at least four feet in the air. Below me, I could see a woman, one of my neighbors who went out for a jog everyday at around the same time I went to school. We would often meet at the door and say our hellos to each other before parting ways. She was a nice lady, who always had a smile on her face, rain or shine. Today, however, I saw her usually serene face was twisted out of recognition by terror.

I opened my lips to call out to her, forcing my voice to come out of my throat, but nothing happened. I was mute and paralyzed from the neck down. Fear trickled down the back of my neck, making my heart rate spike. What was going on?

My eyes slowly followed the woman's line of vision to see a limp body on the ground. I could feel the bile climbing to throat, leaving a burning sensation in its wake. _Is that me?_

The young girl on the ground certainly looked the part, with her shoulder-length hair tied back, wearing my school's uniform. However, I couldn't tear my eyes away from a large piece of wood protruding from her back, darkened by blood. I wanted to bring up my arm to my mouth and try not to vomit at the sight. That was me... with part of the wooden stair railing I had broken going straight through my chest.

"_Lorna..._"

My eyes darted around the entryway for the source of the soft and unnerving voice, only to find an unfamiliar figure standing with its feet right beside my head, its own hooded head staring down at me. I watched, my nerves sending cold shocks through my body, as the hooded figure raised its head and turned it to look directly at me -or rather, the one who was pinned to the wall, not the one who lying on the ground. I couldn't look away from the black... nothingness in place of its face.

"_Give in..._" Its surreal voice came right out of the figure's face, breaking the silence. I could see something dark and thick coming out of the hood, hovering around the head and dissolving into the air around it. _Smoke?_

_"Give in, Lorna..._"

_No..._

"_Lorna, give in. Give in. Give in. Give in. Give in."_

The words wouldn't stop coming. It wouldn't stop. The words pierced through my ears like knives, making my heart race. They kept repeating like a satanic mantra. Eventually, they weren't words; they were sounds. And they wouldn't stop.

"GIVE IN. GIVE IN. GIVE IN. GIVE IN. LoRnA yOU mUSt GivE IN."

They were screaming at me now. I held my ground, like an ant in a tornado. _No. _I needed to hold on. I would never give in to this creature.

"yOU CaN REST. LorNa. ResT. GIVEIN GIVEINGIVEINGIV EINGIVEI NGIVEIN GIVEINGI VEINGI VEINGIVE INGIVEIN GIVEINGIVEI NGIVEINGIVEINGIVEINGIV EI NGIVEIN"

IT wOULDn'T StoP. sTOP. PleaSE _sTOP. No mORe. NO. NO. NO._

_"LORN ALOR NALORNA LORNALO RNA"_

An arm extended itself towards me, black and slimy. I gagged and tried to shut my eyes, but they wouldn't shut. They wouldn't close. I couldn't blink. I couldn't look away. The hand was closer. Inky mucus was running down the arm and dripping onto the floor -the floor, slipping away from me at an incredible speed. I wanted to fall down. I wanted to get away. I felt my lips parting slowly, out of my control. My jaw opened as wide as it could, the strained joints and muscles making me uncomfortable and the stretched skin of my face sending jolts of pain through my nerves.

"GiVeIN gIVeINgiVEI NG IveINgivEINGI V EINgiveinGIV einGIV EINgIV Ei NGiveIn IVEINGiVEinGIVE I NGiv EINGIVE iNGiv EINGIV einGIv EIN GIveINg IVEIngIVEINgiv eIn GIveingI VeIN"

Why wasn't my jaw shutting? I was ordering it to shut! It needed to shut! Right now!

WHy wOULdn'T IT StoP. ShUT UP SHUTUP sTOP plEAse.

The arm was coming closer. I felt like crying when four dripping wet fingers, covered in filth, inserted themselves into my mouth, followed by the thumb. It was over for me. I wanted to struggle, but it was hopeless. I couldn't move. I wasn't strong enough. The arm, which seemed to go on for miles in the endless room, made its way down my throat.

_I was done for..._

_"Give in, Lorna._"

_I gIVE in. tAKE me. _

The appendage was so far down in my throat now that I couldn't tell you exactly where it was. I didn't understand what was happening, but the moment I decided to give in, everything became dark. Everything was over. The pain was all gone. In fact, I had never felt better in my whole life. I could rest now.

_"Hey, babe... Look over there!"_

_Huh?_

_"Is she okay?"_

_"I don't know! You should call an ambulance!"_

_What? What... was going on now?_

_"Um, I have an emergency! There's a girl here...just passed out..."_

_Wasn't everything... over?_

* * *

**_So... That's that, I guess. Now, you know. I'm a horror buff. Not sure if I need to change the genre, because it will still be adventure/comedy, but it'll also have creepy things like this... on occasion... My story is so many different genres I swear... _**

**_Still, it's good to keep in mind that Lorna just got here and the universe is still adjusting to her ;)_**

**_I apologize for any nightmares, trauma or sexual innuendos._**


	9. Mysterious Jurrac Duelist

**_In honor of me finally getting through that TEDIOUS duel between Jonouchi and Valon (AKA "Jou put that suit of armor back where it came from or so help me-") I've decided to post this chapter. This is also the longest chapter in this fanfic so far since I had no idea how to make it shorter without taking out scenes that I really wanted. Also, I don't think I should apologize for Lorna's constant swearing during this chapter because I believe you should know her by now._**

* * *

"Lorna, you have to eat your breakfast..." Mrs. Muto pleaded, pushing a plate of omelets towards me that would usually look very appetizing, but that morning, I couldn't put _anything_ in my mouth. I couldn't tell her why, though. In addition to the fact that it would only serve to frighten the poor woman, I honestly didn't know what I would say if I were asked to describe the nightmare that I had had the night before.

"I... can't..." I replied dismissively, giving her a smile.

"Lorna!" Grandpa Muto tried this time, sounding much more firm than the woman before him. "You're going to be having a big day today! You're competing in Battle City Tournament! And you can't do that on an empty stomach!"

"Mr. Muto... I'm fine -" I tried to say, but was interrupted by Yugi this time.

He stepped into the kitchen with his duel disk strapped to his arm, looking armed and ready to go into battle. "They're right, you know. You need to eat."

I bit my lip and looked away from Yugi, knowing that if I maintained eye contact long enough, he would be alerted of my distress. I didn't really want to tell him. Not yet. Not while we had bigger problems to worry about, namely Marik Ishtar. The last thing we needed was Yugi _failing _to defeat Marik just because he was caught up worrying about my messed up nightmares. "I'm fine, Yugi..." I said to the plate sitting on the table in front of me.

"Well," Yugi began. I turned my head around to see him making his way out of the kitchen. "I gotta get going to get an early start. I'll meet up with you later, okay?"

I nodded, feeling a bit anxious since I wasn't going to have anyone with me as I went around Battle City. However, I couldn't hide behind Yugi all the time, which sadly enough, was entirely possible -literally. Besides, it would be much easier to find duelists who were willing to challenge me if I _wasn't_ hanging around the reigning King of Games.

#

It took me a while to get myself out of the house so I could start dueling, as Mrs Muto and Grandpa Muto wouldn't let me leave the kitchen until I had eaten something. Unfortunately, my gag reflex kicked in every time I considered putting anything near my mouth. Thankfully, we reached a compromise when I agreed to put a couple of granola bars in my bag along with my phone, which now had all of my friends' numbers in it, and my ipod, which I never left the house without, whether I planned on using it or not. I was out of the house less than an hour after Yugi had left and it made me feel a bit better that Yugi probably wasn't _that_ far away from me.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Mrs. Muto asked as she saw me off at the door. I could see hurt in her violet eyes and it had taken all my strength not let her come along. I wasn't sure who I would encounter in Battle City, but I knew Marik was not at all opposed to murder and I knew he would try to kill Yugi and his friends. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I ended up putting her in danger as well.

"Sorry!" I said, cracking a small smile -or at least, I hoped I did. I searched desperately for an excuse to give her. "I-I'm meeting up with Téa and Tristan later! So... I won't be alone." I hesitated for a moment then wrapped my arms tightly around the older woman. "I'll see you after Yugi wins the tournament," I told her as I pulled away.

She looked considerably less upset after the hug and smiled warmly. "You could win just as easily you know!"

I giggled. "Against Yugi?" Ha! Not a chance!

I watched her put a hand to her lips, holding back a small laugh. "Be safe, Lorna."

"Of course!" I replied with a wave, twirling around and heading out into town.

#

After about twenty minutes of walking through unfamiliar streets, I started to feel like going out on my own was a bad idea. However, after stumbling upon a road that was vaguely familiar from when I went out with Téa, I followed it to find myself in Domino City Plaza, the place where I woke up on fateful day. Today, however, it was more packed than I had ever seen it. There were a couple of duels taking place on opposite sides of the Plaza, each with its own crowd of excited bystanders.

I adjusted the strap on my shoulder bag as I made my way over to one of the duels. _There was no harm in observing for a few minutes, _I thought as I pushed myself through the crowd. Some part of me expected the two duelists to be people I knew so I was disappointed to find out that I knew neither of the two boys dueling heatedly.

It seemed like I had made it just in time to see the duel end. One of the boys, a very young one with bright red hair and a scowl on his face, had a bare field with no monsters and a lonely spell card, while the other, who appeared to be much older and was standing smugly at the other side, was surrounded by winged-beast monsters, the strongest one being a large, majestic looking bird, with red feathers on its body, golden feathers on its head and dark magenta feathers in its crown, wings and tail. It flapped its wings gallantly, beady eyes locked on the poor duelist who was just about to face its wrath.

"_Crimson Sunbird_!" the older boy hollered, extending his arm towards his opponent. "Attack his life points directly!"

It was the first time I had ever seen a holographic duel and I could feel my pulse speed up as the holographic bird raced towards the panicking boy. It looked so _real_! And for a moment, my heart dropped and I almost looked away, fearing for the boy who looked like he was about to die.

_Keep it together, Lorna!_ I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. I mean, how many times had I watched stuff like this on TV? I _knew_ they were just holograms.

A holographic counter appeared beside the younger boy, counting down to zero as he dropped to his knees in defeat. His spell card disappeared along with every other hologram on the field and the victor stepped forwards, kneeling down to help the boy to his feet. "You did great, kid!"

The boy perked up, raising his head and looking at his opponent with glimmering eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah!" the older one affirmed and pulled the boy to his feet. He chuckled and scratched the back of his neck absentmindedly. "_But... _You still gotta give me your locator card and your rarest card!"

I rolled my eyes and turned around. Enough dilly dallying for me now...

Walking back to the center of the square, I felt very out of place. I needed to duel someone if I was going to get any locator cards, but I would much rather have had someone challenge me instead of actually trying to speak to other human beings. I looked around for someone to duel and felt my heart lurch when I found someone very familiar making his way out of the square. He was an average-looking teenager with shoulder-length russet hair. I couldn't quite place him in my memory, but he did exist there somewhere. Was he also from my world?

Hesitantly, I strode towards him swiftly before I could lose sight of him. Unlike the little girl I had seen a couple of days ago, he didn't seem to be aware of me and I wondered what exactly I would find when I finally caught up to him. Would I witness his death as well... just as I witnessed that little girl's death? The thought dug painfully into my gut and even though I was pretty sure I needed to follow this guy, I really, _really_ didn't want to.

"Hey, you!"

I was snapped abruptly back to reality by a harsh voice, which, after a moment, I recognized to be that boy's voice -the one I had been following. I blinked in surprise at the boy as he examined me, most likely trying to see why I would be following him. _Luckily_ for me, I had no explanation to offer him whatsoever.

"Why are you following me?" he asked, stepping closer to me so that the distance between us was now a little less than two meters. My mind struggled to find an answer to that question as my mouth opened and closed like a fish, waiting for the words to come through. The boy, however, decided to relieve me of the burden of coming up with an excuse by asking: "Did you want an autograph?"

_Autograph? _Who did this guy think he was?

"N-No... I ..." I sputtered pathetically. _Great, Lorna. Good job! You could have gotten away with following him if you just asked for his fucking autograph! Now, you have to make up _another_ excuse for why you were fucking stalking him. You dug yourself into this hole, Lorna, now figure out a way to escape._

The boy raised his right arm, which I noticed had a duel disk attached to it. "Did you wanna duel me?"

Thinking fast, I nodded my head. However, as the boy smirked and prepped his duel disk, I found myself wondering how much I actually thought before accidentally challenging this guy to a duel. If I lost, I would lose my only locator card and my rarest card and I couldn't afford to lose those in my first duel! It wasn't like I had much of a choice, though. It looked like I was going to have to duel him so I needed to trust my deck and myself. I mean, I was trained by Yugi -motherfucking- Muto and if Yugi thought I was ready for this competition then I was definitely ready.

I raised my right arm, turning on my duel disk and watching as it lit up, displaying my life points. Two things, which I believe were simulators, ejected themselves from the duel disk and placed themselves on either side of me, nearly scaring the shit out of me since I had no idea duel disks could do that. What if someone was _standing_ over there? I couldn't help but imagine how many people would _die_ due to irresponsible and careless use of duel disks. Thanks, Seto Kaiba. "So can you speak?" the boy asked, drawing his first five cards.

"Yes," I replied as red began to stain my cheeks.

"Good. You can go first."

**?: 4000**

**Lorna: 4000**

"Alright! Let's do this!" I said, drawing six cards and looking them over. I quickly put down my _Sanctuary in the Sky_ on the duel disk, just like Yugi showed me. "I activate _Sanctuary in the Sky!"_ Seemingly out of nowhere, the field began to fill up with mist... no, not mist -_clouds_. I could hear rumbling, like stones shaking and shifting and saw a temple rise up out of the ground on my side of the field.

"What does _that _do?" he asked, looking a bit unnerved.

I sneered at him, feeling smug with my lucky draw. "_That _ensures that every time you attack a fairy, I don't lose life points!"

He rolled his eyes and I almost marched up to that little shit and strangled him. "Oh, so you're one of _those_ girls..." he said, sounding a bit disappointed, then he grinned. "Well, then, I'm going to win this duel sooner than I thought! Now get your turn over with!"

Giving the boy a dirty look, I looked down at my hand. "Then I summon _Fairy's Gift_ in attack mode. Then I'll put down one face down card and end my move." Three small child-like fairies appeared on my side of the field, dancing and giggling amongst each other. They were sickeningly cute, and while they had 1700 attack, I sort of wished they were slightly more intimidating.

The boy scoffed and drew his card. He set one monster before shrugging and saying, "Your move."

I stared incredulously at the play. That monster was completely defenseless with no traps or spells to protect it. Did he _want _me to attack it? I drew a card and smiled. It was my _Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen. _I didn't need it just yet, but it couldn't hurt to set it down. "I summon _Ancient Elf_," I declared, as the elf pixelated into existence, violet cloak billowing in the wind, holding her staff at the ready. Yep, I could definitely get used to seeing my monsters like this. Before the boy could let out another scoff at the fact that I summoned yet _another_ female monster, I declared my attack, starting with _Dancing Fairy_.

As the trio of fairies made their way over to the monster, it revealed itself to be some sort of flaming reptile... with a beak. "The fuck is that..." I murmured, watching my monsters pulverize it. Not wasting any time, I called out to my _Ancient Elf. _"Attack his life points directly, _Ancient Elf_!"

"Not so fast!" the boy hollered, interrupting my attack. He had a large, smug grin on his face.

I couldn't even question his exclamation before my attention was turned to my _Dancing Fairy. _"What's happening to my fairies?" Their soft bubbly laughter had turned into screams of agony and all three of them were burning alive. "What did you do?" I exclaimed, my voice betraying a sense of distress. _Those were my fucking fairies!_

"Guess you don't know my _Jurrac Gallim'_s special ability!" he said with a snigger. "Any monster that destroys this card goes straight to the graveyard with it! That means your lame fairies are toast!" _Fucking punny, you punk-ass motherfucker._

"Well, then _Ancient Elf,_ make your attack _extra_ painful!" I ordered, proceeding with my attack.

The boy waved his finger with an excited smile. "Ah ah ah! Wait! There's more!" _More? This fuckwad had better not have something worse up his sleeve. _"Since my _Gallim_ was in face down defense position, I get to special summon my _Jurrac Herra_ to the field!" A giant lizard creature -you know what? It was a fucking dinosaur, standing on its hind legs with a large bazooka strapped to its back. It also had 2300 attack. Well, I could now say goodbye to my locator card.

I scowled, looking down at my hand and trying to figure out what exactly I could do about this thing. I mean, with _Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen_, I could summon any fairy in my hand, granted I had no other monsters on my side of the field. However, the only fairy in my hand was _Marie the Fallen One_, which was definitely no match for _Herra. _The only other card being a trap which I _definitely_ could not use. I sighed dejectedly since I couldn't put my _Ancient Elf_ in defense mode and waited for him to make his move.

The boy summoned another dinosaur in the beginning of his turn, setting a spell or trap behind it. This one was smaller than _Herra_, thankfully; however it also had 1700 attack points. So, my _Ancient Elf_ was doomed. "Alright! _Guaiba_! Incinerate her _Ancient Elf_!" I winced as the creature dashed towards my _Elf_ and destroyed her. Well, it's name was fucking _Guaiba_. With a name so close to Kaiba, no wonder it was a bitchass, dickhead of a monster. Since _Ancient Elf_ was a spellcaster, the _Sanctuary in the Sky_ did fuckall to protect me and I lost life points. Welp... I was definitely off to a _rough_ start.

Also, I would like to let everyone know before we continue that when duelists winced and ducked, they were in fact reacting to the special effects coming from those lethal simulation devices at our sides which occasionally liked to blast fucking tornadoes at my face. Like my hair actually needed powerful gusts of wind ruining it; it was already a mess since I never bothered to brush it _ever._

The boy pretended to yawn and tap his foot impatiently at my incompetence. "Shoulda guessed that a _girl_ would suck at this game." _The fuck did he just say? _"Any last words? I think I'll have you beat by my next turn, so why don't you hand over your locator card and rarest card now so you don't have to suffer a humiliating defeat!" He chuckled to himself, as though making a joke with the voice inside his head, who was probably also a dick. Just saying. "On second thought, you can keep your rarest card! I bet it sucks just like the rest of your deck! How did you even qualify for this tournament!" _I don't know... _I didn't tell him that, though. I mean, he didn't _need_ more material to work with for his _hi-fucking-larious_ derogatory commentary.

At this point, I was trembling with either silent rage or tears of pent up frustration; however, silent rage sounded a bit less pathetic, so let's go with that. How _dare_ he talk about my deck like that? Yugi helped me make that and we worked _so hard_. This guy didn't deserve to belittle it like that! I opted not to answer him, simply focusing on the game. "I'm going to activate my spell card, _Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen, _which lets me special summon my _Marie_ _the Fallen One_ to the field, and I'm putting it in defense mode! Now, get your turn over with so I can show you just what my deck is made of!"

"Fine then!" he exclaimed, obviously irritated with my determination to win. Like _hell_ I was going to surrender to this fucking douche! "_Herra! _Send her monster packing!"

I flinched slightly as _Marie_ burned thanks to _Herra_'s bazooka, which incidentally turned out to be a flamethrower, however, I refused to appear defeated. This guy was going down. I made a face and drew a card, suppressing the groan that built up in my throat at the monster I had managed to draw. _Spirit of the Harp _wasn't bad since it could protect me from his weaker monster, but it would be crushed easily by _Herra_.

**?: 4000**

**Lorna: 3750**

"Hey! What's going on with your life points?" he called out.

My life points suddenly went up to 3950. I let out a short laugh of relief. I had completely forgotten about _Marie_ _the Fallen One's _special effect! "Remember that monster you just killed? Well, that gives me 200 life points in each of my standby phases as long as it's in my graveyard."

He narrowed his eyes and snorted. "Well, a measly 200 per turn won't save you from my monsters!"

"Whatever..." I mumbled, setting my _Spirit of the Harp _down on the field in face down defense position before ending my turn.

"That's _all_?" he asked, rolling his eyes. I nodded firmly. I was going to pay a hefty price in life points during the next turn, but I would be fine as long as I trusted my deck to give me the card I needed. "Okay! First, I'll summon _Jurrac Velo_! Now, _Guaiba,_ destroy her face down monster!" Another dinosaur materialized right beside his other two.

I smirked as _Guaiba _headed towards my _Spirit of the Harp,_ and even more so when he promptly lost 300 life points. "What was that about my deck being lame?" I asked, playing it tough, although I knew full well that _Herra _was going to beat the shit out of my monster.

"Whatever! _Herra_ beat that fairy to a pulp!" he ordered, gesturing dramatically towards my monster. _God_, people actually did that? I mean, I thought it was exaggerated for drama's sake, but _fucking hell, _it was cheesy as fuck now that I was seeing it in person. However, I had to hold that thought as my _Spirit of the Harp_ shattered in front of me and I had one more dinosaur to worry about. I shut my eyes tightly as _Velo _ran towards me. As expected, it didn't hurt, just that gust of wind, which made me want to tear my hair out in frustration.

**?: 3700**

**Lorna: 2250**

"You can end your turn now," I told him, trying as hard as I could to convey my grumpiness to him without sounding like a pissed off eight year-old.

As some sort of dickhead, shitface answer, he began to chuckle, increasing my irritation with each heave of his stupid-face breath. If that wasn't enough, he began to laugh heartily shortly afterward. I began to think back on what I had told him because, obviously, he found it so amusing that he was incapable of proper speech and that just pissed me off.

"H-Hey!" I cried out in outrage. "Stop laughing and end your fucking turn!"

Still, laughing, the boy dropped the cards in his hand, sending them flying about in the wind, and brought his now free hand to his neck.

"What are you doing?" I asked, trying not to sound nervous as I did so. My eyes trailed after his fingers which were rubbing over his neck slowly. "_Stop it!"_ I reprimanded.

"Stop what?" he asked innocently. His fingers wouldn't stop though, and something red trailed down his neck and through the gaps between them.

_Was that... blood?_

It soon became clear to me that he _wasn't_ rubbing his neck; he was scratching it, scratching his skin right off, thick, scarlet blood seeping through the tattered tissue "Stop it! What are you doing?"I shrieked. Why wouldn't he stop?

"StOP wHAT?"

"Not again! Not again!" I whimpered, covering my eyes with the card in my hand and backing away slowly. My heart was pounding in my chest, threatening to fly out, and I couldn't stop my breathing from becoming ragged and painful. Why did I keep seeing people die? Why did I have to see these things? Why wasn't it over yet? It was taking so long for him to _die_...

"lORnA!"

_Please, leave me alone..._

* * *

**_I've got a few things to say: _**

**_- Firstly, I thought you ought to know that CH6 has been changed from "Incendium I" to "Terra I" which is not relevant yet, but if any of you are interested in trying to figure out what's going on in this fic, it might be..._**

**_- Secondly, just for the ending of this chapter, I decided to finally change the genre of this fic from Adventure/Humor to Horror/Humor, since I'm starting to think i'm starting to go down a path that is more Horror than it is Adventure._**

**_OH! OH! Before I forget! I wanted to answer a few questions that popped up in my reviews for you all!_**

**_1- To the guest reviewer who asked about Yu-Gi-Oh GX, I HIGHLY doubt any of my OC's will EVER make it there ahahahaha_**

**_2- Random capitalization "kINda lIkE THis" is supposed to be sort of warped speech, in case anyone wasn't sure what to make of it._**

**_3- There is no confirmed love interest for Lorna as of right now. There might be, there might not be, but my priority is the story. _**

**_And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a cooking competition to attend to..._**


	10. Incendium I

**_Okay, so y'all are completely allowed to hate me for updating so late. It's rather inexcusable, but check below for my list of excuses if you want._**

* * *

_What the hell is up with this chick, _he thinks as he watches the strange girl recoil from him and cover her face with her hand. He doesn't know what to make of it. First, she follows him and then she's scared shitless of him?

"Stop it!" she screams, though she doesn't seem to be aware of how loud her voice is and he can see concerned bystanders gathering around their duel.

"Stop what?" he hollers back at her. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Lorna!" someone calls out, causing him to turn and search for the source of the voice. He groans when he recognizes the newcomer. It's Tristan Taylor, a guy that he absolutely despises and a friend of Joey Wheeler. What is _he_ of all people doing here? He can feel his lip twitch in annoyance at the idea of that girl being a part of Tristan's gang, though it certainly explains her lame deck, though...

Tristan runs towards them and comes to a halt at the girl -_Lorna's _side. He puts his hands at her shoulders and rubs them comfortingly. The boy almost gags at the sight of them. What is she? His girlfriend or something?

"Lorna, calm down... I'm here... Shh..." Tristan says quietly, trying to disregard the crowd that had gathered. It was the crowd that led him here to begin with, but now he feels uncomfortable with the several pairs of eyes watching him, curious to find out what is wrong with his friend. His calming words seem to quiet her down and her screaming has turned into almost inaudible whimpering. Not letting go of his friend, Tristan turns his head to glare at Lorna's opponent. "What did you do to her, Dino-Boy?" he bellows.

Dino-Boy, or rather, Rex Raptor, looks incredulous at the allegation. _"Me?_ I did jack shit! Your girlfriend here just started screaming out of nowhere!"

Tristan lowers his head, confused as to why Lorna would be so afraid of _Rex Raptor _of all people; he isn't exactly the most intimidating person in the world after all. "That's not like her..." he mutters to himself, feeling the meek and terrified Lorna pull him closer. He bites his lip and contemplates on what to do for a moment.

"Listen, Lorna," he finally says, forcing her to look up at him. "You can win this duel, okay?"

She stares blankly at him for a moment then gives him a shaky nod. "Mhm..."

"And I'm gonna be right behind you, okay?"

She nods again and puts her card to her chest, turning around again to face her opponent. Her eyes widen again as she looks at him and Rex can see her trying frantically to avert her gaze. "I don't have anything in my hand, T-Tristan." She makes sure that only Tristan can hear her words, and he knows she's trying hard not to sound terrified, so he doesn't let her know that she's doing a horrible job of hiding her emotions.

Tristan stands behind Lorna, placing his hands firmly on her shoulders and steadying her so that she's no longer shaking and flinching. "Lorna, I don't know much about duel monsters," he admits, cursing himself for getting off to a bad start in reassuring her, "I don't know what Yugi would do in this situation..." He racks his brain for the right thing to say, knowing that Lorna is hanging desperately on to his every word. "B-But I know that somewhere deep down inside of you, you know exactly what Yugi would tell you if he were here, so you need to calm down, and think hard about your next move. Got it?" Without turning to look at him, she nods her head once. "Good," he says with a sigh. "Kick his ass."

She nods once more before moving a shaky hand to her deck, shutting her eyes tightly as she draws her next card. She peeks a the card, groaning weakly when she realizes that she hasn't managed to get a monster, but a second trap card.

**Rex: 3700**

**Lorna: 2450**

_Swords of Revealing Light... _and_ Beckoning Light..._ What kind of strategy can she possibly make? The _Swords_ can fend off his attacks and protect her life points, but for only three turns, while B_eckoning Light _allows her to replace her hand with light monsters from her graveyard. Unfortunately, it's completely useless because the only card in her hand, other than _Beckoning Light_, at the moment is _Swords of Revealing Light_, which she needs to fend off his monsters. However, the _Swords _can still buy her some time, although it will all be useless, if the _Swords of Revealing Light_ wear off and she still doesn't have any strong monsters to face Rex's _Herra_, the strongest monster on the field, currently standing at 2300 attack points and backed by two other dinosaurs, each packing 1700 points worth of power. If he manages to tack on even more strong monsters, Lorna is done for.

The girl looks perplexed and Tristan can see her hands shaking again, so he tightens his grip on her shoulders. "Focus, Lorna. I know you can figure this out."

"Hey!" Rex objects from the other side of the field. "You say one more word and it's an automatic forfeit for her. So shut up!" Tristan immediately shuts his mouth, not wanting to risk Lorna losing because of him. Then Rex proceeds to address his opponent, the irritation caused by her hesitation was perfectly evident on his face. "And you need to hurry up and make your move because I don't have all day! I have a tournament to win and you're just wasting my time!"

Lorna looks up at him once more, trying to keep her eyes focused, but Tristan can see her struggling to keep her gaze and she promptly lowers her eyes to the floor again. Her fingers move to the cards in her hand, she takes one of the cards and sets it down on the field. "I'll set one card face down and end my turn," she tells him, though she might as well have been speaking to the ground because her dark eyes still won't meet Rex's hazel ones. Looking like someone who had forgotten where they were and what they were doing, she looks over at Tristan, who nods reassuringly. She gives him half of a smile and turns back towards Rex, closing her eyes as she does so -a temporary relief.

He draws, keeping his wary eyes fixed on his shaken opponent, analyzing her, trying to understand what it is about her that makes him feel so uneasy -what it is about her that makes him feel like this duel is anything _but_ ordinary. Her distant expression makes his heart race in the worst way and he wants with all his soul for this duel to end as quickly as possible. He needs to _win_ this duel as quickly as possible. He leers at her, placing a spell card face up on his duel disk with ardor, his fingers lingering over the card for a couple of seconds as the card materializes in front of him. "You know what this is?" he asks, not waiting for an answer from Lorna, and he was sure that she wouldn't give him one anyway. "It's a card called _Molten Destruction_! This'll give each of my monsters a 500 attack point bonus since they're all fire monsters!"

He watches warily as Lorna's eyes shift between the continuous spell card he had just placed and the attack point counters which had appeared beside his three monsters, however, try as he may, he can't find the hesitation that had originally taken refuge in her solemn eyes. She gestures forward with her hand and a card on her side of the field rises to face up position -_Magic Jammer_... And he doesn't need her explanation to know exactly what that card will do. Dark smoke surrounds the hologram of his spell card and Rex watches in a rage as his card is consumed by the darkness and is immediately destroyed, causing a slight breeze to ruffle his hair.

"Oh, yeah!" he calls out to his unresponsive opponent. He has to admit that this isn't really the most entertaining duel he had ever participated in, as he's much more accustomed to bickering with his opponent (which was going just fine until she decided to freak out on him). "You still have no monsters to protect you!" He glances over at her empty field. There's nothing there other than a face down card and her _stupid_ field-spell card, _Sanctuary in the Sky,_ which protects her life points whenever he obliterated one of her fairies, and she currently has _none_ of those to hide behind this turn. Her face down card? Well, that's no _real_ threat to him considering the fact that she has only one measly card in her trembling little hand. She's obviously placed it as a last resort and, whatever it is, he'll charge right through it and straight to her life points.

"Jurrac Herra! Guaiba! Velo! Attack her life points directly!" He can't help but let out a chuckle at the knucklehead standing behind Lorna as his face sets into a grim line, expecting the worst. _She's toast!_

"No!" she cries out, revealing her face down card, _Swords of Revealing Light._ The field rumbles as Rex's side of the field is showered with several bright swords, which halt his dino monsters' rapid approach and completely immobilizes them.

He lets in a sharp breath and furrows his brows at the sight of his paralyzed monsters, but he retains enough determination to holler at the girl before him. "Those lame swords won't hold back my dinosaurs forever! You think you can get your act together in just three turns?" He lets out a derisive laugh, but it's too tainted by vexation to give off the intended effect. "Just give up _now_, Schizo!"

Lorna starts her turn by drawing a card from her deck and her life point counter chirps as her card effect activates. Rex fights down the growl building up in his throat and waits to see her next move.

**Rex: 3700**

**Lorna: 2650**

She looks down at the two cards in her hand, blinking her eyes purposefully as she thinks about her next move, but to Tristan's confusion and Rex's relief, she does nothing. Dangling her empty hand down by her side and glancing over at the duel's audience, anything to keep herself from looking at Rex, she says, "Y-Your move." Her voice is less than a whisper and it's a wonder that Rex even hears her.

He smirks at the card he has just drawn; it's one of his favorite monsters, but he can't summon it now without sacrificing two perfectly good monsters, and with Lorna panicking and trying to figure out a strategy, he had a bit of time to prepare. "I'll set a monster in face down defense position and one face down card, then I'll end my turn." He bites his lip anxiously at the thought of having to go through one more boring turn before he can summon his strongest monster. He shifts his gaze over to one of the most important pieces of his strategy, and the very key to his victory, thinking back to how he had managed to score a deck like this to begin with.

It had only been a couple of days before the Battle City tournament and he was adding the finishing touches to his Battle City deck, going from one game shop to the other and looking at all the undiscovered gems that some of the less experienced duelists had overlooked -not that he _needed_ any new cards because he _was_ a duel monsters champion and many a duelist had fallen to the power of his _Serpent Night Dragon, _so he was fairly certain that he was ready for whatever he would face in the tournament.

He doesn't really know who it was that gave him his Jurrac deck that fateful day, and if he's being completely honest, he still isn't quite sure _what_ it was that gave him his deck. He knows that its a person, even though he hasn't seen physical proof of that fact (they had been wearing a heavy black cloak that darkened their face dramatically and made it impossible to make out their features), but it's not like a giant sea monster or something would be giving him a deck out of nowhere and asking him to use it. He couldn't really complain, though, since he now possessed much stronger monsters than he used to, and if there was a catch, he wasn't aware of it, seeing as the weird guy/person/sea monster gave him the deck without saying a word, leaving only a piece of paper with a cryptic "Good Luck" written upon it in impeccable handwriting.

Just as Rex anticipates, Lorna ends her next turn without making her move, leading up to the final turn of her _Swords of Revealing Light._ She only has one turn left to get her act together or she's a goner, and Rex doubts she'll have anything to rival his new secret weapon, though it may be useless to call it a _secret_ weapon when he's about to unveil it in one of his deck's first test drives. Upon drawing, he realizes that he hasn't drawn the card he needs to defeat her, but with a grin he shrugs off his disappointment; it's only a matter of time before he gets it and that girl won't know what hit her. It's also incredibly entertaining to watch Tristan's face go from worried to irreversibly hopeless behind his friend's back, so prolonging this duel isn't that much of a big deal to Raptor.

He decides to summon another Velo to the field, watching in admiration as it materializes right next to its brother. They squawk to each other enthusiastically before rearing their heads menacingly towards Lorna, a mocking warning to her, and Rex grins thinking, _Perhaps monsters really do take after their masters,_ and he is a master of the great dinosaur species no less.

On his next turn, those pesky swords will go back to where they came from and he'll be able to mop the floor with Lorna. His victory isn't too far off.

Tristan's hands on Lorna's shoulders are now shaking and he's glad she can't see his face because it held no optimism at all, and he doesn't want to reinforce her fears and make the girl even more petrified than she already is. He's not allowed to give her anymore pep-talks either; Rex saw to that soon after he arrived, so he will have to make do with trying to calm himself down and believe in Yugi's training and in Lorna's ability to defeat this guy. She _can_ defeat this guy, right?

Lorna's shoulders stiffen abruptly under her friend's grip, causing the tremors in his hand to travel up his arm and into his body, and it's all he can do not to lose his footing and stumble gracelessly to the ground. He can see Rex observing her guardedly and he wonders what the Dino duelist can see on her face. Though, neither of the boys expect it when Lorna stares straight into Rex's eyes and speaks, her voice ringing as clear as a bell in the plaza, her tone full of confidence and resolve.

**Rex: 3700**

**Lorna: 3050**

"Alrighty, you bag of dicks! No more Mr. Nice Lorna! Let me show you what _real_ dueling is all about!"

Rex staggers almost a foot away from his original stance, his face a vision of pure incredulity, while Tristan chokes out a sigh of relief, his hands relaxing their tension as they grip Lorna.

_Atta girl! Our Lorna is back!_

* * *

**_Ahaha, cheesy Tristan is cheesy. But cheesy Tristan is also my favorite Tristan_**

**_I hope this chapter wasn't too boring because Lorna is completely out of it for most of the chapter_**

**_But hey, Rex Raptor! Who woulda thought!_**

**_So here's my list of excuses, as promised above:_**

**_1- I graduated - whooo! -throws confetti-_**

**_2- I got a job, volunteering at a school for children with special needs -WOW PHILANTHROPY_**

**_3- It's Ramadan and I'm fasting_**

**_4- Duels are fucking hard to write_**

**_5- idk my dog ate it..._**


	11. Extinction

**_Okay, so here's the update ;D Fashionably late. I was listening to the song "Out Alive" by Ke$ha the whole time while writing and planning out the duel xD You oughtta listen to it while reading. It's a super fun song. Also its fun, upbeat, techno vibes made me feel like I was in the middle of an Xteven video (God bless his little soul, for his videos are duel monsters perfection) His videos definitely influenced this chapter... just a bit._**

**_Anyway, the bulk of the duel is in this chapter. I wanted to make the duel realistic and I didn't want it to be too easy for Lorna, so this chapter is pretty long._**

* * *

"Thanks, Tristan," I said over my shoulder to the boy who had come to my aid. His hands were holding my shoulders and I suddenly felt uncomfortable with his humid breath on my neck and the intimacy of our positions. I mean, when I fucking said I didn't want to be paired with Tristan, I fucking meant it. I mean, there's nothing wrong with Tristan, but when I say something in chapter two, you'd better believe that I still hold true to it five days later. "You can let go now." I shrugged my shoulders slightly to emphasize my point.

The hands were immediately retracted from my body and I heard a meek "Sorry" from Tristan.

Still, in spite of the awkwardness, Tristan really did help me out with his cheesy and over-the-top friendship display. I had no idea what would have happened to me if he hadn't showed up to calm me down, but I was positive that I would have lost the duel. I wasn't quite sure what had come over me before, but I knew one thing for sure, my hallucinations were getting more and more vivid and grotesque, and I still had to find out why I was even having hallucinations to begin with. If I was going to avoid things like this, I needed to keep a level head and keep myself on guard at all times.

_Ha. I'm_ _doomed._

I glanced at the boy who was my opponent, feeling my heart swell up in frustration at my inability to realize who he was immediately. Rex Raptor. Rex -_fucking- Raptor._ How could I _not _realize that I had been dueling _him_? I mean, the dinosaurs were a fucking planet-sized tip! He also looked just like Rex Raptor, so that was also a huge giveaway. Well, of course he _looked_ like Rex. I mean, he _was _Rex... and I'm rambling, but the point is -_Rex Raptor, guys!_

"Well, are you going to make your move or not, Schizo?" my opponent hollered from the other side of the field, his face an ugly sight, and _that_ was not part of my hallucination.

**Rex: 3700**

**Lorna: 3050**

"Hold your horses, dino-breath! I'm thinking up a strategy to whoop your sorry ass back to the stone age!" I hollered right back at him, casting my gaze back down at my cards. This was the last turn of my _Swords of Revealing Light,_ which meant that this turn needed to count because I had _no_ monsters on my side of the field, while he had four, and not only that, but he would also be able to attack me on his next turn. Plus, a card in face down defense mode? That practically _screamed_ 'STRONG MONSTER INCOMING'

I placed one monster card from my hand onto the field and watched as my monster materialized in front of me. "I'm going to special summon my _Airknight Parshath _to the field!" I declared, glancing over at his _Herra_. Thanks to the effect of _Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen_, I was allowed to do that without sacrificing a single monster. _Man_, I loved that card.

It was a huge gamble summoning _Airknight Parshath._ He only had 1900 attack points, so the glance I cast at Rex's monster (2300 attack) was more than a bit tentative. If the look on my face wasn't convincing enough to Rex, the centaur defending my life points was looking more than threatening as it stared down at each one of the dinosaurs opposing him. It may not have had enough attack points to pulverize _Herra_, but both _Velos_ and_ Guaiba_ each had 1700 attack points, and that face down monster didn't seem like a cause to be alarmed either. Maybe I would start with that...

Rex broke out in obnoxious laughter, seemingly dumbstruck by my choice of monster. "That _pony_ is no match for Herra! Or should I add math to the list of things you don't know how to do -right under _duel monsters_!" _Oh, once that little buttface finds out what I have in store for him, he'll be wishing he wore a diaper under those stupid baggy pants of his -if you know what I mean._

"Oh, shut your trap and let me finish my move!" I yelled back at him, making no effort to disguise my irritation with the boy. "Next, I'm going to have my _Airknight Parshath _attack your face down monster!" I announced, blocking out the sniggering coming from the other side of the field, but it was like the _Happy Tree Friends_ theme tune, impossible to tune out no matter how many pillows you piled over your head, while the excited crowd seemed like gentle ambient noise in comparison.

Rex's monster flipped over, revealing a small, green dinosaur with its legs poking through a broken eggshell that it wore around its waist. _Awww..._ it was the most adorable reptile I had ever seen, and that was a lot coming from someone who despised every lizard, iguana and chameleon in the animal kingdom, and I believe that, at least today, I had seen enough reptiles to last me a lifetime. The small dinosaur looked comically panicky as my centaur raised his blade and ran for the small creature. I didn't picture my _Airknight Parshath_ as a creature with any remote willingness to kill infants, but I suppose he made exceptions for gross lizards, especially if they were controlled by my opponent. The sword went cleanly through the dinosaur's chest, making its image shatter. I almost felt sorry for the little guy. I mean, it would certainly have been more gratifying to see that sword shatter that fatass _Jurrac_ _Herra _over there, standing all high and mighty, mocking me with its very existence.

**Rex: 2300**

**Lorna: 3050**

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Rex blurted out, watching his life point counter go down with a look on his face that made my heart flutter in one of the purest forms of happiness -_revenge_. "My _Babycerasaurus _was in defense mode!" he protested, his surprise growing greater with each second. "I shouldn't have lost life points!"

I smirked, fanning myself with the cards in my hand, while looking over at Tristan smugly. I could tell that he was struggling to hold back the triumphant yelp that was caught in his throat. Looking back at poor, confused Rex, I decided to humor him with an explanation. "I guess you don't know _Airknight Parshath's _special effect," I told him, faux sweetness dripping off of each syllable. "Even if your monster is in defense mode, my _Airknight_ still makes you lose life points. Pretty nifty, eh?" I couldn't shrink the smile on my face even if I wanted to.

"Argh! You'll pay for that!" he growled, shaking his fist at me, and I almost laughed at how pathetic he looked.

"I really hate to kill babies, y'know, but _you_ probably shouldn't leave them defenseless on the field like that," I told him with a pitiful shrug. Then, going straight back to business I added, "My _Airknight _has one more effect!"

The dino duelist harrumphed, crossing his arms and staring pointedly at me. "Oh, _please_, tell me..." he said flatly.

"Every time he deals damage to your life points, I get to draw a card!" I reached for my deck and pulled out a card, glancing at it warily. I sighed lightly when I realized that it wasn't the monster that I was waiting for. I guess I needed to stall for time somehow. I looked over at my hand and pulled out a trap card, setting it face down behind my _Airknight Parshath._ "I'll just set this down and end my turn."

Rex rolled his eyes before drawing a card from his deck. He gave the new card a disappointed once over, reassuring me that the strong monster that he was cooking up somewhere in his deck still hadn't made an appearance. He decided to start things off by declaring an attack. Thankfully for me, he only had one card that stood a chance against my _Airknight_ and I had only one trap to stop the advance of his _Herra_.

"_Herra_! Attack her _Airknight Parshath_!" he ordered, and it was the cue for his dinosaur to begin darting towards my monster. Before it could make contact, however, I activated my trap card.

"Not so fast!" I told him as my trap card revealed itself to be _Negate Attack_.

His slightly jubilant grin faded when his monster's flaming attack was repelled by a transparent shield that surrounded _Airknight Parshath_, who reared up, his front hooves waving scoffingly at the dinosaur. Yes, my friends, holograms really did make everything better.

"You can't hide from my monsters forever! I'll get you next turn!" he warned, hardly even looking at his hand before setting down a third card in the spell/trap zone. His ever growing scowl was doing wonders for my happiness levels. And let me tell you; happiness levels were serious business, guys.

And so it was my turn again. My_ Marie the Fallen One_ raised my life points by 200, bringing it up to 3250. The stage was being set for my ultimate monster -whenever it decided to come up in my hand. As I had expected, it wasn't in my hand this turn. Though, I knew one way to bring it out: _Airknight Parshath's _special ability.

"I think that I'll attack your pesky little _Guaiba_! Go, _Airknight_!" I shouted over the sound of the crowd going wild. Bitches just love me, y'know?

The thrill of finally starting to beat this asshole was making me laugh uncontrollably, and I could only hope that I didn't look hysterical -or at least, anymore hysterical than I already seemed given that I had acted pretty hysterical earlier when I was hallucinating. _Airknight_ demolished that dinosaur and I waited patiently for the beautiful sound of Rex's life point counter decreasing, but it never came.

"Hey! What gives?" I called out.

"I activated _Divine Wrath_!" Rex replied, the grin on his face looking almost rabid as his _Divine Wrath _smote my monster. "This trap negates any card effect that I want; then it _destroys_ the card!" _Not good. Not good. Not good._

My mouth set into a solemn line as I looked over my hand. I needed to protect my life points and there was nothing there to help me out. Except for maybe...

"I activate _Beckoning Light_!" I exclaimed, setting the trap on the field.

Rex looked taken aback. "What's that supposed to do?"

"Well, I discard all three cards in my hand to the graveyard, and in their place, I can put three light monsters from my graveyard in my hand!" I explained, demonstrating the card effect as I spoke. I chose to return my _Airknight Parshath, _my _Dancing Fairy_, and my _Spirit of the Harp. _"And to finish things off, I'll use _Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen_ to special summon my _Airknight Parshath_ back to the field!" The centaur reappeared on the field, more menacing than ever and looking royally pissed off at Rex after his short trip to the graveyard. "Then I'll set one face down monster and end my turn," I told him, setting my _Spirit of the Harp _down. These high defense cards always took people by surprise for some reason, and that was why I loved them so much.

Sure, it was shitty protection since my monsters were sitting ducks, but I needed to buy time until I got the card I needed. _C'mon, _Neo-Parshath_! Where are you?_

I watched him draw a card then scowl again. He still hadn't drawn it! I smiled weakly. At least his luck was just as shitty as mine!

"I'll summon another _Jurrac Guaiba _to the field!"

_Fan-fucking-tastic. _As if I really needed _another _one of those. I mean, I had just gotten rid of that fucktrumpet only to have him summon it again! Now he had two _Velos, _a _Guaiba_ and a _Herra,_ and each of them packed a punch! Not to mention those trap cards he had behind his monsters...

"_Herra_, attack that oversized pony!"

_Oh, I'll show you oversized pony, you little dick._

Needless to say, my _Airknight _was blasted to pieces. However, when he decided to target my _Spirit of the Harp_ with his _Velo,_ he was wonderfully surprised by the fact that its attack was 300 points lower than my monster's defense. Serves him right...

"I activate _Return Damage_! Now _you_ lose the 300 points of damage that I would have lost!"

_Shit..._

**Rex: 2300**

**Lorna: 2950**

I was still in the lead, though, so even if I had no monsters on my side of the field, I still had a chance to win this. I mean, I hoped I still had a chance to win this, because I couldn't afford to lose, for reasons that I still didn't know. Like, you'd think that I'd be more motivated to win if I actually knew what I was fighting for. That mysterious voice had been awfully quiet for a while now... I wondered what it wanted from me...

_Lorna! You're in the middle of a duel! You can think about this later!_

I started off my turn by gaining another 200 life points. Man, I loved _Marie the Fallen One._ I drew a card. _Pot of Greed._ Still not _Neo-Parshath._ Damn it! Where was he when I fucking needed him? Still, with _Pot of Greed_, there was still a chance that I could draw _Neo-Parshath._ I tried my luck again by activating my spell, only to draw _Black Pendant _and_ Gravity Bind._

_Black Pendant_ was an equip spell card, which would be all fine and dandy -_if I fucking had anything to equip it to_! Of course, I still had _Dancing Fairy_ in my hand with 1700 attack points, but equipping it with _Black Pendant_ (raising it up to 2200) wouldn't help me defeat _Herra_, sadly. _Gravity Bind_ was pretty useless at the moment. It's effect made it so that only monsters with 3 stars or less could attack, and this could stop all of Rex's monsters in their tracks, but it would also be counterproductive considering the fact that _Neo-Parshath_ wouldn't be able to attack either (_whenever I fucking got him)._

After a moment's thought, I decided to summon _Dancing Fairy_ and equip _Black Pendant_ to it. Sure, it couldn't defeat _Herra,_ but it could still kick that Guaiba's ass over to its brother over in the card graveyard.

"Oh, look! Your baby fairies are back -so I can torch them again!" Rex said with an evil glimmer in his eye.

_Oh, it's on like Donkey Kong, motherfucker._

_…_

_Not that it _hasn't_ been on like Donkey Kong before, but you know..._

"Shut up! I'm going to destroy you and all your oversized chickens! Just you wait!" I retorted, feeling my cheeks burn up in frustration -and maybe _burn_ wasn't the best word... Shaking my head and getting my head back in the duel, I announced loudly, "I'm gonna have my _Dancing Fairy_ attack your _Guaiba_!" The three fairies didn't hesitate to obey me, fluttering over to the glorified lizard and showering it with sparkly magic, but it was _deadly_ sparkly magic which made it totally badass sparkly magic as opposed to harmless, lame sparkly magic.

**Rex: 1800**

**Lorna: 3150**

He let out an exasperated sigh and glared at me. "My turn!" he declared.

"Do your worst!" I taunted, but I didn't _really _mean it. If he wanted to go easy on me -hey, he could even surrender if he wanted -I would be totally okay with it.

"Oh, I will!" he replied, grinning at the card he had just drawn.

Oh, great. He drew it. That was probably the strongest monster in his deck, the Regina George of all of his monsters. I was probably doomed unless I figured something out soon...

_No pressure, Lorna._

"Now, I'm going to summon the last duel monster you'll _ever_ see!" he called out.

Yeah, since I was friends with Yugi Muto, that was highly unlikely. Rex was off of his game when it came to taunts like this...

"By sacrificing my two _Jurrac Velos_, I'm going to bring out my almighty _Jurrac Spinos_!" he hollered loud enough to let even the people dueling on the other side of the plaza know that I was screwed. The two tiny _Velos_ descended into the ground as sacrifices while another, stronger beast rose up in their stead. The monster that rose out of the ground was a colorful little thing with a huge blaze trailing down its spine. It wasn't as tall as I thought it would be, however, it made a point of roaring loudly to assert its strength and demand our fear and respect -and with 2600 attack points, it probably deserved that fear and respect.

I grunted as a gust of wind whirled around me, like an ominous fanfare to announce the arrival of _Spinos._ Stupid virtual simulators..

"_Spinos, Herra, _attack her monsters!" Rex looked absolutely over-the-moon, like he had this victory in the bag. Well, he wouldn't win, not so long as I still had some fight in me!

I braced myself for the wild windstorm that was about to come from the destruction of my monsters. The two dinosaurs sprinted over to my fairies, making my heart ache at the thought of having a completely empty field. _Herra_ scorched _Spirit of the Harp_, causing her to cry out in pain before shattering under the force of the attack, and at around the same time, _Spinos_ murdered my _Dancing Fairy._

Suddenly, a monster began to appear on my side of the field. It looked like a miniature of _Jurrac Spinos_ and it was _mine_. But how?

"You're welcome!" Rex said, leering at me over the cards in his hand.

"What _is _that?" I asked.

"It's a _Spinos Token_. Every time _Jurrac_ _Spinos_ destroys one of _your_ monsters, you get a _Spinos Token._"

But that meant that my _Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen _was useless... It let me special summon any fairy from my hand, granted I had _no other monsters_ on my side of the field. How would I summon _Neo-Parshath _now? Summoning him with _Airknight Parshath_ was now out of the question, and seeing as it would be _really_ hard to secure two sacrifices for him, it wouldn't be easy to normal summon him either.

**Rex: 1300**

**Lorna: 3150**

I heard Rex sigh in frustration. "What is it _this _time?" he asked, rubbing his head and directing his vision towards me for an explanation.

"_Black Pendant's_ effect," I told him. "When it's sent to the graveyard, my opponent loses 500 life points!" I wanted to smile impishly at him, but all I could think about was how he had gotten his ace card and mine _still_ wasn't popping up.

It was a small relief in the face of such fierce monsters that my _Marie the Fallen One _was still giving me 200 life points each turn. I tentatively reached towards my deck in order to draw, hoping and _praying_ to get a good card. I decided to shut my eyes tightly and _beg_ the Heart of the Cards to show me a miracle like it did during my duel with Joey. Holding the card tightly in front of my face, I slowly opened my eyes. _The Agent of Judgment - Saturn..._

Damn it, Heart of the Cards! You had _one_ job! _One_ fucking job!

I took a moment to collect my thoughts and considered my options, then I realized something wonderful: _The Agent of Judgment's _effect! If my life points were greater than my opponent's, I could sacrifice _Saturn_ to deal damage to my opponent equal to the difference in life points -and I had _more_ than double the life points he had! This was an instant win for me! Plus, _The Agent of Judgment_ only required one sacrifice, with which Rex so generously provided me.

"I'm going to sacrifice your _Spinos Token_ to summon _The Agent of Judgment - Saturn_!" The materialization of _Saturn _was absolutely _glorious. _He rose from the ground, standing stiffly and confidently, his robe billowing around his legs, and I didn't even mind the wind effects that the simulators hit me with.I also learned something totally new since, apparently, _Saturn _turned out to be a guy. Yeah, I kinda thought he was a girl because of the whole robe and all, but uh... he could be a guy, too... _especially if he's a sorta hot guy_ -but I... erm... I probably wouldn't tell anyone that I was perving on my monster. That was probably frowned upon. Too bad I was about to sacrifice him...

"That's still too weak to-" Rex began to say, but I cut him off abruptly.

"I'm not planning on attacking your monsters!" I informed him. "I'm about to activate my _Agent's _special ability and wipe out the rest of your life points!"

"What-"

"I have 2050 more life points than you, don't I?" I asked in a dulcet tone, watching in sick pleasure as his face twisted in realization. "_Saturn_! Finish him off!"

"Hold on!" he exclaimed, activating a spell card just as _Saturn _reached his pathetic, trembling form. "I activate _Emergency Provisions_!" My eyes widened. I recognized that card. He could use it to gain 1000 life points for each spell or trap card he discards from him side of the field, but by the looks of it, he only had one. Still, one was enough to leave him in the game -barely. Unfortunately, he had two strong monsters, and I just sent my _Saturn _(my really attractive _Saturn_) to the grave.

**Rex: 250**

**Lorna: 3350**

Thinking fast, I did the only thing I could do. I activated my _Gravity Bind._ I wasn't going to lose this duel no matter what!

"You _moron_!" Rex called out when he saw what I had just activated. "Now, _neither_ of us can attack!"

"Nope," I replied. "We can't -unless we get a 3 star monster or lower."

When Rex's turn came, the boy had no choice but to end his turn without doing a single thing, mumbling what seemed to be profanities under his breath, and in less than two minutes, it was my turn again.

"C'mon Heart of the Cards..." I murmured so quietly that I doubted even Tristan heard me. He had long since decided to secure a distance of at least two feet between us and I was pretty sure that was for the best.

Little by little, I was decreasing Rex's life points and going around his monsters. Perhaps I really could beat him; after all, he had less than 300 life points. Yugi may have been able to win a duel with even less life points than that, but this was Rex Raptor and _not_ Yugi Muto, so I highly doubted he could find a way out of this pickle. Besides, my whole deck was based on life points and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if I drew an Ookazi or something to finish him off once and for all.

I reached for my deck and grabbed the card on top swiftly, almost as though something inside me honestly believed that a swift draw would give me a good monster.

_The Agent of Force – Mars._

I stared hard at the card in my hand, feeling my heart rate speed up.

This was it.

This was the card that would lead me to victory.

On its own, _Mars_ was a 3 star monster with zero attack and defense points, but as long as I had _The Sanctuary in the Sky_ on the field, it had a very special ability. As long as my life points were greater than my opponent's, _Mars_ would gain attack points equal to the difference, which in this case, was a whopping 3300 attack points.

I summoned it to the field, calling out its name with fervor and pride and I almost thought that if I felt any happier, my chest would swell up and explode. "_The Agent of Force – Mars -_I summon you!" He rose to take the spot his fallen brother, _Saturn_, had been standing in previously, hammer in hands and his wings flapping majestically behind his muscular form. If you looked closely, you could almost see _Spinos _and_ Herra's _scared asses shivering in fear at the sight of him. Even the crowd around us seemed impressed. Gawrsh, I was feeling a bit bashful now... _but_ it wasn't the time to be bashful since I still had to wipe out the rest of Rex's life points.

"Alright, _Mars_! Destroy _Jurrac Spinos_!" I called out to my monster.

The beating of his wings became much stronger as he made his way over to _Spinos_ and demolished it, taking whatever was left of Rex's life points with it.

See? I told you that dickwad was going down.

**Rex: 0**

**Lorna: 3550**

The holograms began to fade away and the two devices which had ejected earlier were retreating back inside my duel disk, as were the ones on Rex's side and I took this as my cue to walk over to my fallen opponent. He was down on his knees now, crushed, and as much as I despised him during my duel with him, I couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for him -plus, my hate and competitiveness usually tended to go away as soon as the duel was over.

"You okay?" I asked gently, with no sign of the sarcasm and mockery that had been in my voice earlier, and knelt down beside him.

His fists were firmly on the ground and his arms were quivering under his weight. His face was turned away from me, but I had a pretty good idea of what he looked like. Mortified. Angry. Disappointed.

"Just take them..." His voice was less than a whisper.

"What?"

Without warning, a transparent card -the locator card – and a _Jurrac Spinos _were tossed my way. I scrambled down to catch them before they got too dusty or got picked up and carried away by the wind. That would certainly be a waste of a well-played duel, wouldn't it?

After that, my opponent got to his feet, towering above my crouching figure. "I'll beat you next time, Schizo!" he cried out, without a single bit of his fire lost. "Just you wait!"

_Wait. Did he just call me "Schizo"?_

* * *

**_I say! This duel was far too long! -adjusts monocle and sips tea-_**

**_I just need to add something here before I leave concerning the random 3rd person chapters:_**

**_-These chapters aren't as random as they seem to be. Each of them is from a different POV than Lorna's. What you guys need to do is figure out whose POVs they are and why these characters are important enough to have their own POV anyway. I've decided to warn you beforehand every time I write a 3rd person POV chapter so you guys aren't too taken by surprise when I suddenly post them._**

**_I hope that cleared up some things for you :D_**

**_Also, if you find duels long and tedious, don't worry, they won't come as often as they do in canon ;D_**

**_This was Lorna's very first victory. The next duels, however, will probably have a bit more drama and suspense... -evil cackling-_**


	12. Spilling the Beans

_**So, I was listening to Ke$ha while writing this again. And I'm still listening to Ke$ha. I've been listening to Ke$ha for a month now. This can't be healthy.**_

* * *

"Looks like Yugi really helped you out!" Tristan remarked, putting his hands in his pant pockets as the two of us strolled through the town. "I mean, I gotta admit that you had me scared a couple of times." He threw his head back in hearty laughter, paying me and the offended expression on my face no mind. How dare he doubt me! I'll have you know that I was trained by the motherflipping -pause for dramatic effect- King of Games.

"Well," I replied, elongating the word as I said it. _Initiating the Lorna bullshit application_. "It really was nothing... I mean, I'm just a natural at card games, be they Uno or Go Fish..." I rambled on. Lies. I sucked at Uno and Go Fish -and, while we're at it, every other card game in the whole world.

Apparently, Tristan's mind wasn't completely with my idle chatter, and who could blame him; my own mind was hardly paying attention to my word vomit. "Hey, Lorna?" he asked, arching his back slightly to look down at me.

I glanced up, immediately putting an end to my rant in order to listen to what my friend had to say. "Yeah?"

He sighed and looked away from me for a moment thoughtfully before speaking. Then it came -the question from which I wanted to stay at least fifty meters away. "What exactly happened with you during your duel with Rex? Why were you screaming?"

I frowned and pursed my lips, trying to think of a good way to successfully avoid that question. It's not like he could really help me even if he did know. I was sent here, told to learn _something_ from Yugi and save the world, and I was expected to do this successfully. I mean, if they asked _me_ to do it, then I must have been somewhat capable, as I doubted people with mystical powers chose their world saviors without thinking about whether or not these chosen ones could actually save the world. "I'm scared of dinosaurs," I told him finally, averting my eyes and digging my nails into the rough skin covering my left elbow.

Hey, it was a reasonable fear! Fear of the unknown, fear of things that died billions of years ago. Reasonable.

The look on Tristan's face told me he wasn't buying it though, and who could blame him? "You didn't look scared of the dinosaurs; you looked scared of _him_. Lorna, what's going on with you?" My lips set in a straight line and I didn't say a word, trying to weasel my way out of this way. He had already caught me in a lie, so trying another lie wasn't going to help me much. "Téa told me about the other day," he added when he saw that I wasn't about to speak anytime soon.

Taken aback, I look up wide-eyed at my friend "What other day?"

"The day you went shopping with Téa," he clarified, looking right back at me with an unreadable expression on his face. "She said you blanked out for _five_ minutes."

"And what does that prove?" I snapped at him before he could say anything else. It wasn't like spacing out meant anything... Besides, I happened to space out quite often, and it didn't mean anything. There was _nothing _wrong with me. Okay, so I saw a little girl dying... that might have been a tiny bit unorthodox, but I could handle it. I was _supposed_ to handle it, and I would. I had a mysterious voice counting on me, even if it did abandon me.

_Bitch move right there, Voice._

I heard Tristan let out a long and exasperated sigh, which made my tighten my jaw and set my gaze to the ground, waiting for him to speak. "You didn't just blank out, Lorna. You were saying stuff. And if I'm taking Téa's word for it, pretty scary stuff."

I felt a pang in my chest at the thought of it. _Saying stuff?_ Stuff like what? Why would I even be speaking unconsciously? Or, more importantly, why wasn't I told about this earlier? Couldn't Téa have spared me a word or to concerning my very strange behavior? I mean, obviously it was note-worthy if Téa went and told Tristan about it, and who else had she told? Yugi? Joey?

Well, _of course_ she told them. How much more stupid could I possibly be? They probably thought I was crazy or demented or possessed... And God bless Tristan and his big mouth or I probably wouldn't have found out at all. I just would have thought that at least _one_ of them would have approached me with this information sooner.

"What kind of... stuff?" I asked, trying not to sound majorly pissed off and stopping in my tracks, my legs giving up on carrying me any further... or was that just my brain? To tell you the truth, I couldn't really trust my limbs anymore since they decided doing things involuntarily was a thing. I mean, I somewhat get talking in my sleep, but _this_...

Tristan turned on his heel to face me, and for the first time, I could see the expression he was wearing, a look of concern and anxiety among other things.

_Could he possibly be scared? _For_ me? Or _of _me?_

"You kept saying 'Stop' or something... I mean, I wasn't there so..." The boy trailed off, averting his dark brown orbs from my own probing eyes. I suddenly became aware of the tension in my brow and brought my hands up to my face, rubbing the tightness away. "I just can't help but feel like this and your duel with Rex..." He paused to recall the point he was trying to make, his eyes shutting tightly for a moment, then relaxing as he brought his gaze back to me. "They weren't a coincidence, were they?"

I wasn't sure how to answer him, because as far as I knew, a coincidence was exactly what they were. "Well, I don't know anything about this," I insisted, crossing my arms over my chest. "Any reason why Téa isn't asking about that day herself?"

This question caught Tristan off guard and the look on his face reeked of pity and it left me with a bad taste in his mouth. I survived a coma, so perhaps he could keep his pity to himself. "Y-You had no idea," he sputtered. "We thought it would be best if we told Yugi first and figured things out -"

Then I realized exactly what this was about and tightened my fists around the hem of the new black top I was wearing._ Sorry, shirt._ "You didn't trust me enough to tell me about this?" I asked him, holding back tears and trying to prevent my voice from becoming raspy.

"That's not it!" Tristan cried out in objection, his voice firmer than it had been before. "Hear me out before jumping to stupid conclusions like that, Lorna!" he scolded.

I set my lips in a straight line, swallowing back the lump that was growing in my throat, and gestured with my hand as if to say, "Go on." I guess he was right and I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, but I was still pretty new to the whole friendship deal. I wasn't a loner when I was in my world, but I wasn't exactly everyone's go-to girl.

He sighed and composed himself before beginning his explanation. "What I mean is that we didn't want you freak out about this -at least, not yet."

Deciding that it would be best to go about this in a mature way rather than childishly try to make a bad guy out of Tristan, I replied curtly. "Thanks, but I can handle it." I felt a bit bad, not only for snapping at Tristan, but also for pushing him away, but there was no way he'd be able to understand what was going on with me; there was no way any of my friends would be able to understand. Even I wasn't so sure what was going on with me.

"We want to help you, Lorna." Oh, don't say my name so pathetically like that.

"Well, you can't, okay," I replied sharply, trying not to sound too hostile, but I don't think my mouth was really agreeing with my brain -can't say that was a first.

My friend began to scowl and I could sense the frustration building up inside of him from the way his back had gotten rigid and his hands were struggling to stay put. "Why not?" His tone showed restraint and I realized that, if I were Joey, I probably would have been punched in the face ages ago.

"There is no way you guys could even begin to understand!" I argued back and with a long sigh, I decided to give him the information he wanted and see exactly where he would go with it. "You really wanna know what's going on?" I watched his eyes widen; he had no doubt expected me to be tight-lipped for the rest of the argument. Well, he was definitely in for a twisted little treat. "That day when I went out with Téa, I didn't just space out. I followed a little girl into the street and watched her stand in the way of a speeding truck." I winced at the memory -the sound of tinkling bells as she laughed -the loud crack when the truck finally made impact.

"Why didn't say any-"

I continued to speak, paying his question no mind. "Just a few minutes ago, you watched me have a nervous breakdown in front of dozens of people for no reason..." I stopped speaking to rub away the goosebumps that were brought out by the oozing red on Rex's neck, slipping between his fingers and trailing down his shirt. How could I possibly get an image like that out of my head? How was I supposed to believe that all that was just my imagination?

"What did you see, Lorna?" Tristan asked quietly so as not to startle me from my recollection.

I brought my arms back down to my sides and responded to his question, sparing him the gruesome details that I would have to live with for a long time. "He was committing suicide."

I watched the realization on Tristan's face as my words registered in his mind and I felt worse and worse with every moment that passed. I still hadn't told him about the nightmare I had just last night, but I hadn't even begun to process that dream or its implications myself. For now, it was just a creepy dream induced by my confusion and fear, but I would have to deal with it sooner or later, and I was beginning to think that it would end up being sooner rather than later.

"Let us help you," he finally said after a moment of heavy silence and the sounds of people passing us by as we stood in the middle of the sidewalk. "I can tell you don't understand anything, but we can help you. Maybe Yami knows something. He's like three thousand years old or something so..." And there it was again. _Yami_. What the _hell_ would Yami know? He didn't even know who he was for fuck's sake!

"What could you possibly do?" I asked hopelessly, shaking my head.

"You can't do this alone. You need friends to help you see the bigger picture, and five heads are better than one. Trust me." Tristan gave me an awkward smile, and I could tell he was trying to lighten the mood, and he did not know just how much I wanted the mood to be lighter, but I couldn't bring myself to smile back.

"You're forgetting something," I informed him. "I've already seen the bigger picture. Three seasons of it."

"What -" Then he remembered exactly what I meant. "You know... everything," he said more to remind himself than to remind me. I watched the resolve fade from his eyes as he tried to think of a way to counter that.

Letting out a long sigh, I decided to end the conversation for both of our sakes and stepped towards Tristan, putting a friendly hand on his shoulder as I said, "You probably shouldn't be late to see Serenity."

He nodded slowly and plastered on a weak grin. "You sure you don't need moral support?"

I let out a small giggle. "I can handle myself," I told him. "Besides, Serenity needs you more than I do, and she's probably waiting for you."

"Y-Yeah." He blushed and I knew he was imaging her waiting for him on that hospital bed and giving him that 1000 watt Wheeler smile. I was happy for him; at least he wasn't going to be alone.

Speaking of being alone, maybe I could call Joey or Yugi just to check up on them later, since they had told me to call them whenever I felt like it, but for now, maybe it was too early. I decided to wait until I at least had half of the required locator cards so I could at least have something to brag about when I talked to them. "If you're any later, you might miss telling Serenity about Joey's first duel," I reminded Tristan when I saw that he still hadn't departed.

"How did you-"

I gave my friend a pointed look, placing my hands on my hips. _Really, Tristan?_

Then he gasped and threw his head back in laughter. "Oh, right. The bigger picture!"

The smirk on my face turned into a fullout grin. "Yeah! Anyway, I'll see you soon, Tristan," I told him, taking a few steps backwards in the direction I was planning on heading.

"Will you?" he asked slyly.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled. "I hope so. Bye!" I called out as I turned around and began to jog away from him, smiling when I heard him throw me a goodbye.

Once I was finally alone, I decided to take a break, leaning against the wall of some sort of café to shut my eyes and think. Now, if what I told Tristan a few moments ago was the truth and not something I pulled right out of my ass to get rid of him, then Joey's duel with Esper Roba would be right about now, which meant that Yugi was... I winced, racking my brain for information. I guess you could say my memories of Battle City were a bit hazy, though I knew for a fact that Yugi had already defeated his first Rare Hunter, which also meant that he had already met Marik in a way.

I kind of hoped that I could just put Yugi and his friends in a protective little bubble because, though I may have forgotten all the little details of Battle City, I could still recall one duel in particular -the duel where Marik took over Joey's mind. If I could at least protect them from that, then I would feel like I had actually managed to do something with my knowledge, which had thus far been useless. How would I go about doing that, though? I couldn't even remember how Marik got his hands on Téa and Joey to begin with.

_Ugh, Lorna. You are truly one of God's most useless creatures._

Well, I was hardly going to accomplish anything by standing around and thinking about stopping Marik. I needed to get out there and look for the little bastard. First things first; I had to figure out where Bakura was since, to my recollection, he was the first to meet the kid in person. And what next? Well, I would cross that bridge when I got to it.

As I opened my eyes and pushed away from the wall, I was still trying to make my _very well thought out_ plan sound good in my head, because human instinct would tell you that actually searching for a highly dangerous sociopath was not exactly a sane life decision, though if you read enough fanfiction, you'd realize that Bakura was more likely to fuck you than actually kill you, so maybe I didn't have all that much to worry about anyway.

"Hi there!"

The face that appeared before me out of nowhere startled the saliva into my throat, causing me to let out a series of noisy coughs, coating the poor guy's face with spittle, but he was asking for it with the way he popped up like that. It took me around a minute to pull myself together and get a good look at his face to realize that he wasn't actually someone I knew.

"Who the _fuck _are you?" I asked, my voice still sounding a bit raspy from the coughing. It hurt like hell, so I would advise that guy to have a good reason for scaring the shit out of me.

All it took was him speaking again for me to realize just how close this guy was standing; his face would be a couple of inches away from mine were he not so much taller than me, and I wasn't just calling him tall because I was short. No, this guy was tall even by normal-sized peoples' standards and his boyish, stubble-covered face was framed by shaggy black hair "The name's Zephyr."

Call me stupid, but the first thing that came out of my mouth when he told me that was: "Is that your _real_ name?"

The boy... No, _man_... No,_ man-boy._.. Well, he was definitely older than twenty, but he didn't _look _like a man. You feel me? I digress... The man-boy threw his head back laughing at my question, giving me a bit of relief from the closeness of his face and the feel of his hot breath on my face.

"You're funny, Lorna!"

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

_Wait._

Wait.

"Wait." My eyes widened and I stared awestruck at his face. "You know my name?"

The smile Zephyr gave me was mocking, kind of like the smile you put on when you remembered an inside joke in public. "I know a lot of things."

J_ust who was this guy?_

* * *

**_Ahaha, I wonder if you guys can tell how pissed off I was while writing this chapter. I'm not a big fan of dialogue in case you couldn't tell. However, this chapter is a necessary transition chapter between Lorna's duel with Rex and her next duel, which might come sooner than I originally thought. Oh well.. :D_**

**_I also had to get Tristan back on the canon train somehow._**


	13. Caffeine Crash

**_So, ladies and gentlemen (are there gentlemen? because that would be superspecialawesome), here is where we finally get to know Lorna's love interest. It's all very exciting. Plus, you get some more sexual innuendos. I really went all out in this chapter_**.

**_Also, I suggest listening to Céline Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On' while reading the first half of this chapter to get you into the mood. Just trust me and do it._**

_**Allons-y!**_

* * *

"So do you wanna get some coffee?" the young man asked, gesturing with his thumb in the direction of the nearby coffee shop, and at the mention of coffee, my stomach began to twitch, ache and groan, and judging by that knowing smirk on Zephyr's face, he was well aware of how hungry I was.

I thought for a moment about resisting and demanding answers first, but my stomach lurched in protest and I had no choice but to accept his offer. "Are you buying?" I asked, tilting my head back to look at him properly.

"Naturally, as a gentleman would," he reassured me, his mocking smirk still fixed on his face. I wasn't sure whether to be irritated that he was smirking at me, or really attracted, but I figured that if I was to have _any _reaction, some healthy suspicion would probably be more fitting. Of course, my hormones weren't up to listening to my brain -typical.

I bit back a giggle and blushed, looking down at my feet.

_Fuck you, Lorna._

_Fuck you to infinity and beyond._

"Well, I don't see why not," I told him in that really annoying voice that decides to rear its insidious little head whenever girls talked to attractive people.

_God fucking dammit, Lorna._

I watched his smirk transform itself into a toothy grin as he stepped backwards, and in that moment I was positive that he _knew -_Oh, he _knew_ I was attracted to him, and that made this whole situation much worse, because I quite literally had elevator music stuck in my head and was in no condition to make conversation with him, especially very important conversation that required me to be thinking about my fate rather than how _blue_ his eyes looked.

Wait! I knew _exactly_ how to forget about the sudden revelation of my attraction to this possibly evil man; all I had to do was think about my first love, _the Triple Mocha Latté._

_Too much caffeine, _you say?

Well, I say there's no such thing!

The Muto household had left me so caffeine-deprived that you could actually watch as bits and pieces of my soul were eaten away at even without the help of a Shadow Game, and the perpetrator was Yugi's mother, who insisted that caffeine was the reason I was so short, and ardently insisted that I refrain from consuming any more of that "slow and poisonous poison", and I wondered why my height even bothered her so much, or why she bothered to call a poison poisonous. Needless to say, the scent of coffee dancing into my nostrils was like exotic sirens luring me seductively into their lair, and I was definitely seduced; I mean, I may profess to be on the straighter side, but if coffee were a woman, I would do her _all night long _with Céline Dion playing softly in the background.

The only coherent thought on my mind was "Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee." as I walked over to the café like a brains-deprived zombie on steroids -and that was putting it lightly, for I nearly tore down the establishment, barging through the glass entrance with enough gusto to fuel a man like Maximillion Pegasus for a whole minute. I wasn't sure what became of Zephyr all throughout this outburst, but at the present, I couldn't give two shits about Mr Smirky and his magical name-knowing abilities.

Once I made it to the counter of the café, which just so happened to be called _Squarebucks_ if that four-foot long sign behind the cashier was any indication, I came to the realization that I was completely broke and unable to buy the breathtaking Triple Mocha Latté I had been having erotic daydreams about for the past couple of minutes, and it elicited from my lips one of the heaviest sighs I had ever let out in my seventeen years of life, so I opted to simply seat myself until I could have the fucking irresistible piece of coffee royalty that was the Triple Mocha Latté bought for me by someone who could actually afford it.

Watching my acquaintance make his way to the counter, sending me cautious glances every so often, I pulled my shoulder bag onto my lap and examined the contents, confirming the nonexistence of my wallet. I mean, what good was a fucking purse if I was fucking broke?

As I pondered upon the unfairness of life, I found the subject of my wildest wet dreams thrust before my very eyes on the small table I had been sitting at, standing erectly before me and smelling of chocolate, fuckloads of caffeine, and most of all -hot, _hot_ sex on a beach under the moonlight.

No, being sexually attracted to coffee is not weird.

Shut up.

I hesitantly reached down, feeling the warmth emanating from the beverage, feeling electricity run through my body, excitement at this moment I had been awaiting for so long, the reunion of two lost lovers after an eternity of darkness and strife. My skin made contact with the paper cup, pain shooting up my arm at the touch -a burn.

_Why do you have to hurt me like this, baby?_

I clapped my hands together, rubbing them against each other and massaging my burnt palms slowly.

_I thought what we had was special, but I guess I'm just another customer to you, right?_

I felt my eyes tear up at the pain, and don't be fooled -the pain was indeed the very ache as my heart split in two at such devastating rejection, and it had absolutely nothing to do with my scorched hands and the light red that spread over my palms. I reached with shaky hands towards the straw on the table, unsheathing it from its paper cover and piercing into the top of the cup, dealing it the vengeance it was due and making it feel the physical equivalent of the sheer agony it had caused me in my heart.

As I leaned down to take a sip from the boiling hot drink through the straw, I heard someone clear their voice and shut my eyes tightly in irritation, deciding that whoever that was would rue the day he decided to interrupt my moment with my Triple Mocha Latté.

"So..."

My head shot up mechanically and my eyes bore laser beams into his skull so hot that he should have been thanking God that looks _couldn't_ in fact kill or he'd have been nothing more than bits and pieces of a once-functioning brain scattered around a filthy café floor with nobody to thank but his own insolence.

"Yes," I spat at him, my index finger and thumb tightening around the slim straw I had been attempting to drink with, gathering all my restraint in order to keep myself from flinging the object straight into the young man's steadily beating heart, piercing his fragile skin in the process.

Zephyr caught my bloodthirsty stare and exhaled heavily, setting his elbows down on the table and hunching his back. "I'll just wait until you finish that..."

_Wise decision, young mortal._

It took around ten minutes of small sips, long inhales of the heavenly scent, and wanton moaning for me to fully empty out the eight inch monster of a drink, and I found myself shivering in excitement and breathing heavily as I stared at the empty cup standing on the table, still bearing the deceitful scent of coffee, even after I had had my way with it.

"You done with that?"

I glanced up at the speaker slowly, my eyes meeting up with his deep blues, but the harshness my eyes held before had died down and Zephyr could now look at me without having parts of his soul disintegrate in the process. I called _that_ progress.

"Why yes. Yes, I am done with that." I slid the cup over to the center of the table, dismissing it since it no longer held that warmth I had been craving for almost a week. Before Zephyr could say anything in response, I spoke up again. "Tell me what you know and how you know it before I walk out of here one Mocha Latte richer and leave you here all alone wondering where it all went wrong."

The look that the young man gave me was priceless. "Wait; what?" I watched him bite his lip slightly then shake his head, ruffling his dark, shaggy mop of hair before raising a hand as though to say "Forget about it" before carrying on. "Do you believe in the concept each living creature having a soul?" he asked.

I raised an eyebrow, but thought quite seriously about the question nonetheless, recalling every instance where I had actually given anything spiritual any serious thought. Being raised by two self-proclaimed hippies. I guess you could say I grew up with a very spiritual mindset, even though my parents weren't exactly the most religious of people. They always told me that, though the living creatures all lived differently, were designed differently, they all shared the same earth, the same sky and the same soul. They told me that we were all connected to the earth and that "her" pain was our pain, which meant that you didn't really need me to tell you that my parents were the environmentalist type.

I suppose I always took what my parents said for what it was, but I never actually thought about it enough to build a firm opinion on the matter. Did I care about the environment and all the animals (except reptiles -those sneaky little fuckers)? Yes, of course I did. Did I actually believe in half of the things my parents taught me? Well, I wasn't so sure.

"Lorna?"

"I don't know..." I replied silently, feeling a bit down that I couldn't answer that question confidently and in exactly the way my parents would have wanted me to. It was like the _simplest thing_ my parents wanted me to believe in wouldn't even stick in my mind. "Do you?" I shot back, trying not to look at him with that pathetic look that I was absolutely certain was gracing my face at that moment.

Shutting his eyes for a moment, Zephyr nodded his head once and smiled at me. "I didn't before though."

"Before what?" I asked.

"Before I came here." I had a feeling that by _here_, he didn't just mean Domino City, Japan.

"Where were you before you came here?" And was he the one that brought me here? Did he know who brought me here?

He tilted his head to the side, silently contemplating what his next words would be and I felt my heart rate spike, not sure what to expect. Why wouldn't he just come out and say it?

"I came from a different dimension..." he said and then directed his gaze at the empty Latte cup on the table in front of him, waiting for this new information to sink in.

_Another dimension?_

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What do you think it means, Lorna?" He looked like he was at a loss for words, unable to clarify his words beyond that point, but that shit wouldn't fly by me.

"Don't fuck with me Zephyr," I threatened, glaring at him and leaning back in my seat.

What was I supposed to think? What was I supposed to get from his words? Who was-

"Holy shit..." I gasped, covering my lips with my hand and putting the other hand on my leg, nails digging into my thigh nervously as I tried to process what he was implying. "You mean... we're the same? I'm not the only one here?"

He shook his head, looking relieved that I had finally understood the meaning behind his words. "What made you think you were the only one?"

"Well..." He was kinda right. How unlikely was it that I, _of all people_, would be the only person in Domino City to have come from a different dimension? How pretentious of me to think that I was special in any way. "Do you also have to save the world so you can wake up and go home?"

There was disbelief on Zephyr's face among other things and I waited for him to speak because I couldn't bring myself to wonder what his expressions were saying. "Wake up? Lorna, there _is_ no waking up from this," replied quietly as though he didn't want me to hear what he was saying; I still did. I heard every word.

"I'm in a coma, Zephyr. That's why I'm here. I have to save everyone so I can go home," I insisted, clutching my pant legs in my fists. My brain refused to work, refused to register these ideas -the idea that I was stuck here forever -the idea that I would never wake up.

Zephyr shook his head solemnly and silently, looking straight into my eyes. I could see regret and pain washing over his face and I did all I could to make myself believe that he was wrong about me and that he and I were completely different, but the look in his eyes told me that he knew much more about our situation than he was telling me.

"Why was I -" I paused after realizing my mistake and started the sentence all over again. "Why were _we_ sent here? Are there more of us?"

With a grave nod, he replied, "There are more of us. I've only met one other, but who's to say there aren't any others running around here. Though, as to why we were brought here... Doc told me pretty much the same thing he told you."

"Doc?" I asked puzzled at the mention of this person that Zephyr obviously thought had communicated with me as well as him. Wait... "Are you talking about that weird voice in my head?"

"Yeah..." he confirmed, drawing out the syllable for a little while before continuing to speak. "I called him 'Doc' since I kinda thought he was a doctor at first... and it just stuck since I didn't really have anything else to call him -"

"How did you know it was a _he_?" As far as I knew, Voice's gender was as ambiguous as the gender of a newborn infant -assuming you weren't looking at the genitals like a proper pedobear... or a pediatrician.

Zephyr tilted his head up thoughtfully, then looked back at me with a shrug. "I just thought he seemed like a guy, though, now that you mention it, it could be a girl, too -" His gaze trailed over to the window and then his brow furrowed in anxiety, his eyes narrowing, and he spoke in a tone that had lost all of its former lightness. "_Shit..._"

I looked through the window, following his gaze only to see normal people passing by the café and going about their own business. What had he just seen?

"Zephyr?"

The young man shot to his feet and grabbed my arm from across the table, dragging gruffly me up to my feet as well. What gives? I fidgeted in his grasp, trying to free my arm from the long fingers trying to dig tunnels into my skin; his nails were_ definitely _going to leave a mark

"Listen," he hissed, tugging me closer to him and mumbling against my ear. "If you want to live another day, you're gonna have to follow me as closely as you can. If you fall behind, I won't go back for you." What a reassuring thought, but what were we running from anyway?

I held my tongue before attempting to ask about that because Zephyr was dashing for the door to the café and I didn't want to end up with whatever was chasing us, because if the look on my companion's face was any indication, they probably weren't looking for some friendly negotiation; they wanted to hurt us.

I was never a good runner, and the danger that we were so obviously in was making my heart beat much faster than it was accustomed to, and after less than five minutes of running, I could feel my sides aching with fatigue. I suppose I couldn't very well expect any more from someone who spent all her free time watching TV shows online and blogging and got high blood pressure whenever she played _Temple Run_, so how could I possibly think that I was capable of running in _real life._

Yeah, I was really out of shape.

_I didn't fucking sign up for this!_

I struggled to catch my breath while keeping Zephyr in my sight at all times, knowing that with the way he was running, I would lose him if I spared even a moment to look back at our pursuers; however, in spite of the deafening sound of the wind blowing past me, I could still hear the beating of their boots hitting the pavement along with the clapping of my own ballet flats. Ballet flats were really bad for running, and I just realized this now because I didn't exactly run anywhere unless it was to get my laptop to a charger, and I was usually barefoot for that.

Then I remembered how clumsy I was.

_Shit. Don't fall over. Don't fall over. Don't fall over._

I panted heavily, trying to push past the civilians without actually shoving them out of the way because I wasn't an inconsiderate little shit, unlike _some _people (meaning every Assassin's Creed protagonist _ever_). "Sorry!" I squeaked, gently pushing past an elderly woman in my way and letting out a high pitched "Excuse me!" as I barged through a lovey-dovey couple. Oh, I hoped I didn't ruin their date... Well, at least they'd have a funny story to tell people, right?

_Where the fuck was Zephyr?_

I approached an alleyway, slowing my sprint down enough to inspect the small area. Had he gone in there, or had he just continued straight down the sidewalk? How would I know where to go? This was exactly what Zephyr had warned me of...

I turned my head around, looking for the pursuers cautiously, spotting two hooded figures pushing through the crowd who stuck out like sore thumbs. _Just perfect!_ I had to ditch Zephyr, go on by myself, and just hope that we would be reunited later when it was safer.

Thinking fast, I dashed into the alley beside me, praying that it wasn't a dead end.

Of course, by now, y'all should know a thing or two about my luck.

In case you didn't figure it out yet, I'll just let you know that it was a dead end.

I ran over to the wired gate at the other side, attempting to climb it like some faux action hero, only to have my feet slip out of the holes, causing me to stumble down to the ground. I couldn't even breathe as I turned around to face the hooded people.

_Man, I really, really needed to work out._

I struggled to catch my breath, managing only to cough a couple of times and wheeze a few more times, while my throat remained too dry for me to formulate any sort of coherent speech. And where the _fuck_ was Zephyr?

As the two unknown people made their way over to me, I spotted a familiar face popping up behind them, with shaggy black hair and a scruffy chin. _Zephyr._ Unfortunately for him, I wasn't the only one to notice his presence, as my noticeable staring had alerted the bad guys and they had both turned around slightly to acknowledge him.

"After him!" one of the figures spoke, its voice unmistakably female. Her accomplice cast one glance at Zephyr, who simply shrugged and smiled slyly before dashing away from the alleyway and leaving me to fend for myself.

_That fucking asshole._

While the female's partner sprinted off to chase down the traitor, she walked towards me slowly, pulling back her hood as she did so, revealing herself to be a very young woman, looking to be in her mid-twenties at most, with her dark hair cut boyishly and her dark eyes ablaze. She activated a duel disk on her arm, which I had just noticed.

So, she wanted to duel me? Well, if I had learned anything these past few days, it was that I wasn't too shabby when it came to dueling, so maybe I had a chance against this woman. Then again, this woman didn't look like she was interested in my rarest card or my locator card; she looked like she was out to do some real harm.

"Wh-Who are you?" I managed to forcefully drag the words out of my throat, which was still parched, and I was sure that its state wouldn't improve much as long as I was still out of breath and hyperventilating. I would probably have to wait until my breathing was back to normal for my throat to feel any less scratchy.

"You can call me Viola," she replied, "and I'm going to be the one to send you where you really belong!" Before I could ask her where exactly it was that I really belonged, she spat out the answer. "Your grave!" Well, that certainly didn't sound very pleasant. "Now hurry up and activate your duel disk, abomination!"

_Abomination?_ What was it with my opponents and giving me unpleasant nicknames?

"You asked for it!" I called out raspily, putting my deck into my duel disk and watching as the simulators ejected from the sides. "I'm gonna kick your ass!" I threatened, adding a little wheeze to the end of the sentence... for flair, y'know. Nothing more kickass than swear words and old person noises; am I right?

The woman, Viola, smirked and drew her first cards. "Then I'll start things off if you don't mind."

** Viola: 4000**

** Lorna: 4000**

_Here we go again..._

"First of all, let's make things more interesting!" Viola snapped with her free hand and I could feel the atmosphere around us become chilling and bleak, almost as though she had pulled us out of this beautiful summer day and into the middle of a pitch black winter night, from the cold breeze that disturbed my bangs to the steadily darkening sky above us.

"What are you doing?" I asked her, my voice shaky, and that wasn't the only part of me that was shaking; my arms were shivering slightly at the sudden change in weather. I suddenly felt a pressure on top of my feet and tilted my head down to inspect the culprit, only to let out a startled shriek when I noticed the murky ground below my feet and the unrecognizable muck that had made its way onto my new shoes. It was dark red and looked like raw meat, but it stung the exposed part of my feet like acid at the touch.

"It's a shadow game, _abomination,_" she informed me with a smile, looking as though she was simply telling me what was on TV, and she took my shocked silence as an opportunity to continue speaking. "The rules are simple. I'm sure you've noticed these filthy little things growing on top of our feet. They're living flesh -the living flesh of vengeful spirits who have risen from the underworld looking for a bite to eat." She gestured to her own feet and I saw that she also had a fleshy mound covering her own feet... just like me. However, she was wearing boots, so it wasn't touching her bare flesh.

_I think I'm going to vomit._

"Luckily, they've stumbled upon our game..."

"Get to the point!" I called out weakly, clutching at my stomach and trying my hardest not to look dizzy. I was more than a little squeamish and I had always become lightheaded after seeing gore in horror movies, so it was only natural that, upon seeing what _seemed _to be gore in real life, I was all but ready to empty out the contents of my stomach at the thought of having that on my feet throughout the whole duel.

"The _point_ is that these spirits will continue to eat at our flesh throughout this duel. Every time either of us loses life points, the spirits will rise up our bodies, consuming even more of our flesh. When either of our life points reaches zero..." I didn't even need her to continue that statement because I had a fairly good prediction. "The loser's body will be completely consumed." The way she said it sounded like that horrid fact actually amused her. "To put it simply: If you lose, you die."

"You're sick!" I cried out, trying and failing to tug my legs away from the _spirits_ that clung to me so tightly.

She simply let out an airy laugh and drew a card, casting a bemused glance over her hand, but it didn't take her long to decide exactly what she wanted to start off with. "I'm going to activate _the Sanctuary in the Sky_!" she announced, setting the card on her duel disk as the field clouded up and a miniature temple rose into the air on her side of the field. "I'm assuming you know what this does, but in case you're the forgetful kind, this protects my life points if you attack any of my fairy monsters -"

"Yeah! Yeah! I have that card," I hollered back at her in irritation. "I know exactly what it does."

"Then you'll probably know exactly what this card does, too," Viola said, activating another spell card -_Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen_. And she was right. I knew exactly what that card did. It allowed her to summon any fairy from her hand as long as she had no monsters on her side of the field, and since this was just the first turn, it was a given that she _didn't_ have any monsters on her side of the field.

_But those are my cards..._

"I'll special summon my _Agent of Judgment – Saturn_ using the effect of _Valhalla_!"

_That's not your _Agent of Judgment._ That's mine!_

"And since I haven't normal summoned this turn yet, I'll summon my _Shining Abyss _as well."

_That's not your_ Shining Abyss_. That's mine, too..._

"Then I'll end my turn! Do your worst, abomination!" she challenged.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Viola had just engaged us in a shadow game, and what was worse was that all of her cards were strangely familiar, like I had seen them somewhere before -namely, _my own deck_!

* * *

**_So, how many of you actually thought that I was talking about Zephyr when I mentioned a love interest?_**

**_Ahahahaha hahahaha haha ha hahaha_**

**_Here. Look this up on YouTube for your troubles:-_**

**_/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ_**

**_(On a completely unrelated note, how does one stop listening to SHINee on repeat? Or is this a no-escape sort of deal?)_**


	14. Life and Death

**_-casually steps back into your life as though nothing happened- Hey, look! It's another chapter! :D_**

* * *

"Your turn, abomination," the woman said, smirking at me and waving around the two cards in her hand. _Welp, let's get this started..._

I drew my first hand, trying not to think about how great her first hand was. She was using my deck, but the hand she got was one I would never in a million years get. Why didn't I ever get that lucky on my first draw? So far, she had drawn _Sanctuary in the Sky_ and _Valhalla Hall of the Fallen _in one turn, along with one of my strongest monsters, _The Agent of Judgment – Saturn, and _I didn't even want to think about what else may have been in her hand.

I bit my lip when I looked over my first cards. I didn't have any strong monsters in my hand to defend me, but I had some pretty good magic and trap cards. I could fend off her monsters until I got something better. My eyes slipped down to look at the pulsating flesh that lay dormant on my feet, becoming conscious of the burning sensation that it was leaving on my skin. _Man, that's definitely going to leave a mark... and if I'm not careful, it'll do much more than that. _My heart rate sped up at the thought, and I could have sworn I saw the _thing_ shiver in response.

Putting my game face on, I set one trap card down and activated the _Ookazi_ I was holding. It wasn't a bad start; at least I wasn't the first one to lose life points. I activated the card, slamming it violently on my duel disk. "There's a hell of a lot more where _that_ came from you sick bitch!" I hollered at her, shaking my fist at her and taking a step forward, only to feel a searing pain shoot through the nerves of my left leg. I gasped and let out a shriek, shutting my eyes tightly. Was my leg stuck? My first attempt at moving it ended with me nearly dislocating it, so it went without saying that I wasn't too keen on trying that again.

I felt my gut knot itself countless times as I watched the demons at Viola's feet rise up her leg slowly, stopping just after her knees. My eyes then moved over to her face, observing her expression closely, but there was no change -still that same all-knowing smirk, which grew in size at the sound of my own pained yelp. Didn't she feel anything? How was she still standing?

I sucked in a deep breath, feeling it hitch on the way in, and I tried as hard as I could to push the pain of my ankles into the back of my mind. They made it look so easy in the books and the movies, pushing away the pain, being strong and brave... having courage. Maybe it wasn't as hard as I thought...

"Did I forget to mention that you can't move any part of your body that has been touched by the demonic spirits?" my opponent replied in a smug tone, as though I were the only one in danger, as though she didn't have half of her legs consumed. What kind of woman was this? "Their venom contains a paralyzing agent that works on the immediate area that the spirits are feeding on."

"Won't you fall over then?" I asked her meekly, looking down at my feet. _Paralyzing agent? My feet are... paralyzed?_

"Well, I've taken care of that as well," she replied, setting a hand on her hip delicately. "You won't be able to move your legs, but you can still stand up if you have the energy to." _How?_ How could she talk about this so casually? This was literally a life or death situation. She could _really_ die.

I could die...

Then it hit me.

She knew she was going to win from the very beginning. She was using my deck, after all, so she must have known its ins and outs, its weaknesses, its strengths. She had designed her whole strategy in order to defeat me in this duel. Why did this woman want me dead so badly? What was in it for her? Who was she working for?

"Make your move before I start to get impatient!"

Her voice brought my train of thought to an abrupt halt, making me look up at her rather than the less than aesthetic sight below me. I quickly realized that I hadn't finished my turn yet, and I could blame that on my extremely short attention span, but wouldn't it be so much easier to blame it on the gory appendages that clung to my feet like leeches? Whoever was to blame, I still had to finish my move.

I felt like crying, though. I really did.

"I – I summon the _Agent of Creation – Venus_!" I announced, my voice missing its usual zest – hard to be zesty when you're facing imminent death, though. "In defense mode!" I added really quickly before setting the card down on my duel disk.

A mere couple of paces in front of me, _Venus _materialized, looking more like an angel than a monster, surrounded by her billowing, golden cascade of hair and suspended in the air by a pair of majestic ivory wings that beat steadily, causing a light breeze to blow over me. It was one of the few times that I didn't mind the simulators. The wind was light and cooled my face, which was dripping gallons of sweat. It didn't do anything to ease my nausea, but it felt good, and I couldn't help but crack a smile while I watched _Venus _cocoon herself with her wings.

I cast an idle glance at Viola's _Agent of Judgment –__Saturn_ and frowned slightly, for a mere hour ago, he was protecting _my_ life points, not hers. For a minute, I almost thought he was looking back at me solemnly, but when I looked closely, his dark lavender eyes were fixed on _Venus_.

It occurred to me then that these monsters weren't holograms in this duel. No, this was a shadow game, which meant that _Venus, Saturn, Shining Abyss..._they were all real – and I had just put two of my _Agent_ monsters up against each other. Did that make me a horrible person? I decided not to think about it too much because if I lost this duel, I would be a horrible dead person and I would much rather have been a horrible living person.

Now, my _Agent of Creation_ had zero defense points, which meant that she could be killed by virtually any monster in her state, but I had a plan for that – and I just hoped that it would protect me, at least until I got some stronger monsters to defend me. I activated _Mist Body_ and equipped _Venus _with it. This magic card protected my monster from other monsters' attacks, which meant that it couldn't be destroyed in battle, and as long as she was in defense mode, I wouldn't lose any life points either. I mean, sure, with _Sanctuary in the Sky_ on the field, neither of us would lose life points when a battle involved one of our fairies, but as far as Viola was concerned, she could easily dispose of that card and attack. I just couldn't risk it.

"_Mist Body_?" Viola asked, raising one of her eyebrows and cocking her head to the side as the air around my_ Venus_ became thick and foggy.

"You know what it does!" I snapped, not really in the mood to talk to her. It was bad enough that this mist was humid and irritating, however, if it could protect my monster, then it was worth the discomfort.

A shrill laugh sounded in the alleyway and when it was over, Viola was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "That I do! Anything else you wanna do before I begin my turn?"

I scanned my hand quickly, trying to figure out whether any of the cards in my hand would be useful at the moment, but there was nothing I could use so, after biting my lip tightly, I replied, "Your move."

She swiped a card from the top of her deck quickly and when her eyes lit up, I could have sworn my heart stopped beating. I put a hand to my chest and clutched the material of my shirt tightly, forcing myself to remain calm or I wouldn't have the energy to stay on my feet anymore, because if I fell over, I wouldn't be able to pick myself back up – not with two paralyzed feet. I tried breathing in deeply, chanting to myself.

_She can't destroy _Venus. _She can't destroy_ Venus. _She can't._

"Time to make things exciting!" Viola cried out, raising the card she had just drawn in the air. "I'm going to sacrifice my _Shining Abyss -_" -_No, not a tribute summon. She can't attack me anyway. She can't attack me anyway._ - " - and I'm going to summon an old friend of yours!" I held my breath, trying not to shiver and shake in my spot. "Say hello to _Airknight Parshath_!"

Usually, the sight of my own monster standing in front of me made me giddy – I mean, who _doesn't _like to stare at their own monsters in awe? - but as _Airknight Parshath _positioned himself beside _Saturn_, I felt every hair on my body stand on end and the blood in my veins froze. You see, in case you weren't paying attention in my last duel, that particular monster had a very... useful effect. It could deal piercing life point damage when it attacked anything in defense mode, and my _Venus_ was in defense mode.

"Now, I can't destroy your monster because of _Mist Body_, so _Saturn _will have to sit back in this round," the woman said with a small sigh, but her smile was wide when she spoke again. "But my _Parshath_ can still deal some damage." My Parshath. _He's _my Parshath. The word 'damage' sent a trickle of acid down my throat. "_Airknight Parshath_! Attack _the Agent of Creation – Venus_!"

I didn't know why, but as her monster galloped towards me, I glanced over at _Saturn_, begging him with my eyes to protect _Venus._ They were supposed to be allies. Why wasn't _Saturn_ doing anything?

_Please, do something._

If my heart weren't caught in my throat, I would have let out a derisive little chuckle at the thought. _Saturn_ wasn't about to do anything. He wasn't my monster in this duel; he was Viola's monster, and he didn't give a rat's hairy ass what happened to me.

_Airknight Parshath's_ blade thrust into my _Venus_, and as I expected, she wasn't destroyed; her whole body shifted out of the way, blowing to the side like the wind, shrugging away his attack, but his advance didn't stop there. He continued to dash towards me, and no pitiful glances at either _Saturn_ or my own monster_, Venus_, could halt his approach, though I saw _Venus_ standing timidly to the side, watching me, her head bowed slightly and her hands folded over her heart. It was all she could do for me.

I dug my nails even deeper into the fabric of my shirt and squeezed my eyelids shut, bracing myself for impact, but there was no way I could have been fully prepared for the sharp, throbbing ache, the feeling of having the wind knocked out of me, the sting of my feet as they struggled to keep me from being thrown back against the wall behind me. My eyes began to protest as my lids pushed roughly against them, and I began to tear up.

I couldn't do this. I couldn't. How in the world was I expected to be ready for this – ever?

**Viola: 3200**

** Lorna: 2100**

_No. No. No. This means..._

The pain from _Airknight Parshath's_ attack was beginning to dull; it was no longer the raw torture it had been just moments earlier, but I knew another pain was coming. I didn't want to open my eyes yet. I didn't want to watch it happen. It was enough that I could feel it all over me – the wet, slimy feeling... It was crawling up my legs, burning through my leggings to break through to my sensitive skin, expanding itself and making me feel incredibly stiff. My legs ached and the burning sensation only increased the longer they lasted. They stopped their approach when they reached my waist, but the pain didn't stop with them.

Before I knew it, the tears were dripping down my face almost as steadily as the sweat and I couldn't tell which salty droplet was which when they slid past my lips and onto my tongue. My legs hurt so much. I just wanted it all to stop.

"If you surrender now, you won't have to go through all of this." The voice penetrated the fog of my mind and echoed dully against my consciousness. "I promise you, your death will be quick and painless. Just give in." _Give in._ No, I couldn't. If I gave in, I would die. I couldn't die. I had a lot to live for: my parents, my friends back home, my friends in this dimension, Joey, Yugi, Téa, Tristan, Mrs Muto, Grandpa Muto... But the force that dutifully hung on to the bottom of my heart begged me to surrender.

"No!" I cried out, forcing my eyelids open and staring right at my opponent. My voice was weak and my resolve even weaker, but at least I had a voice and resolve. "N-Now end your turn!"

"Are you sure?" Viola asked, her eyes clouding over briefly. _Venus _also had an unmistakable look of uncertainty in her eyes. She had slipped back into her spot right in front of me, giving the impression of a duteous protector when in reality, I was the one who had taken the blow on her behalf, losing nearly half of my life points in the process, as well as half of my body. "Very well, then!" she cried out, snatching a card out of her hand. "I'll set one face down card and end my turn."

My arms felt heavy as I drew a card from my deck. _Hoshiningen _(500/700). My lip quivered as my thumb nail dug into the plastic surface of the card. I was about to die and the best my deck could cough up was fucking _Hoshiningen_? In normal circumstances, this monster may have saved my life with its special ability, which gave each of my light monsters 500 attack points, but Viola's monsters were also light monsters, making its ability obsolete. I could also summon _Marie the Fallen One _(1700/1200), a much stronger monster than _Hoshiningen_, but being a 5 star monster, it couldn't be summoned without a sacrifice, and it wasn't worth sacrificing my only line of defense, _Venus._

My opponent's mocking tone slithered over to me in the form of an ironic laugh. "Looks like luck isn't on your side, abomination."

_It never has been. And stop calling me that._

"I'd like to hurry this up, so if you could keep your sad little inner monologues to a minimum..."

My eye twitched uncontrollably as my hand moved mechanically over to my duel disk, the _Hoshiningen _card gripped tightly between my fingers. "I'm going to summon _Hoshiningen_ in attack mode." Each monster on the field gained 500 attack points, bringing Viola's _Saturn_ up to a whopping 2900 attack points. "Then I'm going to put _the Agent of Creation – Venus_ in attack mode as well." At least my life points would be safe in case Viola had _Airknight Parshath _attack again since his special ability only affected me as long as my monsters were in defense.

_Here's me hoping that she hangs on to her _Sanctuary in the Sky _just a bit longer._

A star-shaped monster about the size of my torso came into existence in front of me, hovering nonchalantly with two rainbow ribbons waving about behind him like a mockery of _Venus's _gorgeous feathery appendages, which retracted and left her standing upright in front of me. Where _Venus_ had a determined spark in her eyes, _Hoshiningen's _expression was decidedly sarcastic, like he wasn't taking my life or this duel seriously.

I glared at the three cards in my hand, the same three cards that had been sitting there uselessly from my very first turn. I was going to lose this duel, and I was going to die.

"I end my turn," I murmured passively, trying to look anywhere but Viola's vicious sneer, but when the alternative was the mass of demonic spirits climbing their way up my body, I had no choice but to close my eyes and listen instead.

"With just that?" she asked, seeming like she had actually expected more of me, but what more could I do? I couldn't even keep a straight face like her when I lost life points. There was no way I could win against her, but if I was going to die, at least I would fight until the end, because at least I was capable of doing that much if nothing else.

"Yes," I replied with a broken voice. If you looked closely, you could see the individual pieces of my spirit breaking and crumbling away with each beat of _Venus's _wings.

"Well, well, you look positively pathetic right now," Viola cooed then wagged her tongue at me teasingly. She drew a card and set it on her duel disk; it was _Bio-Mage_ (1150/1000; now 1650/1000), a humanoid monster in a black headdress and armor, and also the first weak card she had summoned throughout this duel. But why? Was she stocking up on monsters to annihilate me with? "I'll also set two face down cards and end my turn."

Man, her field was packed. She had almost all of her spell and trap card slots filled up, as well as her field spell card slot. She also had three monsters on her side of the field, and what did I have? Two powerless monsters between her and my life points like sitting ducks before a slaughter.

With shaking fingers, I reached for my deck and swiped quickly, holding my card at an arms-length away from myself. _Please, please, please! Let this be a good one!_ In one fluid movement, I brought the card before my eyes and read it._ Mirror Force_! This was just the break I needed! Not only did it destroy every monster on my opponent's side of the field, but she would also have to pay quite a lot of life points afterward. I set the card down on my side of the field, hoping for the first time during this duel that she would attack me. Just thinking about it made me giddy, because not only did the total attack points of her monsters add up to well over 4000 points, but the effect of _Hoshiningen _increased her monsters' attack points, making the damage even more devastating to her. There was a possibility that I could win in this next turn!

However, that would also mean that I would be killing Viola... Sure, she was a bitch and all, but was I really prepared to be the cause of someone's death? Looking into her dark brown eyes, I saw malice, mischief and sadism, but I also saw life, and I didn't quite know how I would feel if I saw them drained and dull... and dead. The problem was that if I let her live, I would die, and I absolutely had to stay alive.

Why couldn't the penalty of this shadow game just be a nice little trip to the shadow realm? At least people had actually come out of that place...

The older woman shook her head and sighed. "Well, let's get this over with, shall we?" She drew a card and grinned. Reaching for a different card in her hand, she placed it on her duel disk. "First, I'm going to activate this nifty little magic card called _Raigeki_."

_That card isn't in my deck..._

"I'm sure you've heard of it before, but in case you haven't, what it does is destroy every monster on your side of the field! And I take it _Mist Body_ can't protect your _Venus_ from spell cards, can it?"

_No, it can't._

With a loud crack, the whole alley was illuminated and I had to cover my eyes when the two bolts of lightning struck both my _Hoshiningen_ and my_ Venus_ down. I couldn't even watch their demise until the blinding light began to fade and it was all over. I didn't even realize I had been holding my breath until I opened my mouth and gulped in gallons of disgusting air, tasting the scorched earth and the dusty atmosphere, sapped dry of all the moisture now that_ Mist Body_ was no longer on the field. And the worst part of all was the fact that I no longer had anything standing in the way between her monsters and my life points.

I still had _Mirror Force_, though. I would be fine. Oh, god I hoped I would be fine.

Viola didn't even give my trap card a second glance when she announced her attack. "Your defeat is now imminent, abomination! Prepare to taste the flames of hell!" she bellowed, extending her arm towards me as though trying to reach something just out of her grasp. "Now, my beasts! Attack her life points directly!"

"Not so fast!" I cried out, hurriedly revealing my trap card. "I activate _Mirror Force_! Now all your monsters are destroyed! And you lose the rest of your life points!" A transparent wall made of energy rose around my body, shielding me from the three monsters that were heading towards me and blasting them away towards Viola.

_I won. I actually won!_

"I don't think so! Activate, _Emergency Provisions_!"

_Dammit..._ But how many spells could she possibly get rid of? I mean, I calculated it in my head, and the total damage caused by my trap card was 5450 points, which would be hard to cushion with her spell card. I swallowed the large lump in my throat and waited for her to continue speaking.

"I'll send _five_ of my spell cards to the graveyard in order to gain 5000 extra life points!" she said, sending her _Sanctuary in the Sky_, her _Valhalla Hall of the Fallen_, and her three face down cards to her graveyard slot, leaving her field bare. What was she thinking leaving herself completely open like this? I could easily attack her life points directly. Still, she managed to evade 5000 points of damage... This woman was definitely way out of my league.

**Viola: 2750**

** Lorna: 2100**

I opened my mouth to ask her if her turn was done, but she beat me to the punch with "And that's not all. Now that I have four monsters in my graveyard, I can bring out my ultimate beast!"

'_Ultimate beast'?_ My strongest monster was _Neo-Parshath the Sky Paladin._ What was hers?

"Come out, _Archlord Kristya_!" Viola screamed, trying to raise her voice over the howling of the wind and the beating of wings as her monster descended from the sky. "Are you scared yet, abomination?"

I didn't have _that_ card either, so yes, I was terrified.

* * *

**_Ain't that a kick in the head ;) Well, this chapter was a bitch to write since I had a different plan for this duel, but it ended up working out a bit strangely with the rules of the shadow game. Besides, it ended up being funner when it was revised x3_**

**_Just so you know, the next chapter will be titled "Lumen I" and it will be a 3rd person chapter ;D and those are always exciting (*cough* and require less effort to write than duel chapters *cough*)_**


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